Love to the Tune of a Country Song
by Marshie12
Summary: Alex is a good guy. A simple guy. But what happens when a simple guy meets a complex girl? Can they each take a leaf out of the other's book? The story of fear vs. fate. P&P meets Breakfast at Tiffany's
1. She'll Leave You With a Smile

_This is being posted (for the third time... let the record show) by the request of Dee and because I'm a weak sucker that so desperately seeks approval. I could never keep anything a secret. Anyway. Dee I put it up... how about a quick chapter from 20 Months. I can't wait any longer!! Ah!_

_For those that have read this chapter I may have a few more already written that you can expect, so don't be impatient._

_I can't believe I'm doing this! Three stories at once! I'll go crazy... won't I? Oh wait I forgot I already am a bit off my rocker. Whew. Close one there. Ok. Love Andy, she's my Holly (Breakfast at Tiffany's, for my sadly ignorant friends that should read the book and definately watch the movie.). Love Alex (when you meet him) for he's my Darcy. (My favorite Darcy I've created.) This is a Holly/Lizzy meets a Darcy fic._

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* * *

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**_Love to the Tune of a Country Song_**

"At first she's gonna come on strong  
Like She'll love you all night long  
Like it's going out of style  
Then she'll leave you with a smile

"Well you can't help but wonder  
Why you can't help but love her  
But you can't help love her  
And all that hurtin' was more than worth it  
It's written all over your face"

- George Strait; "_She'll Leave You With a Smile"_

"Promise me you'll never leave," he whispered against her bare skin pressing a kiss to her stomach and a soulful stare.

She closed her eyes and tried not to wince. She rolled over and wiggled out from under him. She curled into a ball on what little of his bed was allowed to her. It was only a double bed and not nearly big enough for the two of them to have any semblance of personal space. She considered making him sleep on the floor.

"Did I say something wrong?" he asked dolefully, rolling over as well to cup his body around the ball she had formed. He pressed delicate, needy kisses to her exposed shoulder almost aching for her to turn back to him.

She shook her head, and because of her position her entire body seemed to rock along with her head, as if her body was one great appendage.

"Andy," he almost whined. "What's wrong?"

Andy pulled out of her ball and faced him, trying to mask her exasperation. "Nothing, Dylan," she replied caustically. "I'm just tired. We haven't slept an entire night in the last week."

"Five days," he whispered correcting her, taking her movement to his advantage and nibbling her ear playfully. Andy took full advantage of his preoccupation to roll her eyes unnoticed. He was so… clingy. It'd been five days and already he was demanding promises and taking her to heart. Andy wasn't ready to be taken to heart; Andy was hardly ready to be taken in jest. Five days, or an eternity; it didn't matter, Andy was already sick of him.

"Don't you think that's a bit fast?" she asked softly, half expecting him to not hear her. Half hoping he hadn't.

"What're you saying?" he asked thickly, his head clouded with the feel of her body. His confusion caused the space between his eyebrows to crinkle and his bottom lip to protrude.

Andy didn't know what to say, so she did what any logical girl would do and pressed a kiss to his protruding lip. "I didn't mean nothin' by it," she replied pulling away, remnants of her southern roots rearing their ugly head near the close of her sentence. "Can't we just go to sleep?" Her accent was gone as fast as it came. With all this stress it wouldn't be long until her old twanging southern drawl would be impossible to suppress. Andy didn't like being stressed. Being stressed meant one thing to Andy: disaster.

With a bit more coaxing, Dylan drifted off to sleep leaving Andy to evaluate her options. Dylan was a nice guy. He dressed well, he had a job, he obviously liked her. Yet there it was again; that icky feeling. Dylan wasn't _it_. Dylan couldn't make her happy. He may have been wrapped around her finger, but that didn't mean she wanted him to be. He'd fallen, but she'd remained on solid ground, and now he was starting to bug the shit out of her. She couldn't take it anymore and she had no reason to; so Andy did what she always did when she felt that same icky feeling.

She grabbed her shoes, not bothering to waste seconds to put them on, and quietly raced out of a sleeping Dylan's apartment. She rushed to the curb and hopped into her '88 Honda, shifting into drive with practiced precision and burned rubber down the street.

She pit stopped at her rented space, grabbing her clothes and shoving them unceremoniously into her back seat without such formalities as suitcases or shoving socks into her sneakers to save space. She dumped the crate she'd been using to store her shoes into her trunk. She pushed her laptop under the front seat. She ripped the sheets off her bed and bundled them up beside her shoes in the trunk. Had anyone seen such a display they would have considered that this woman was robbing that apartment, but masked under the dark stillness of the pre-dawn morning Andy didn't need to worry about such a threat. She grabbed her final possession, her father's acoustic guitar, and delicately placed it in the passenger's seat. She scribbled a short note to her new roommates, telling them she wouldn't be coming back and hopped into the front seat of her Honda once again.

Five minutes. It had been record time, even for a pro like Andy.

"Three weeks," she muttered, tapping her steering wheel anxiously as she stopped at a red light and speaking to her car as if it had demanded an explanation of her. "What a disappointment Dallas turned out to be." She shook her head. "God, only _three weeks_!" Even she couldn't believe it. Three weeks was not a very long time to live in a new city, even for a girl like Andy.

The light changed to green and just like that Andy Holly left Dallas in her dust.


	2. Like Red on a Rose

_**Love to the Tune of a Country Song**_

"Like red on a rose  
When your lips first smiled at me  
I was captured instantly  
To each his own

"Like blue in the sky  
The gaze of your willing eyes  
Touched something deep inside  
The truth be known

"That I love you  
like all little children love pennies  
And I love you 'cause  
I know that I can't do anything wrong  
You're where I belong  
Like red on a rose"

-Alan Jackson; "_Like Red on a Rose"_

In a land, not too far from here, there lived a boy. He was a fine man, not too hard on the eyes and with plenty going for him. He had money, good friends, and the kind of life most people dreamed of. Unfortunately for him he met a tempestuous girl, which is just a fancy way of saying he came across a horrible human fireball. Unfortunately, before the girl could realize what a great man he was, the boy made a silly mistake that would cost him his life. He insulted her and thereby ignited the torturous fire within the girl.

He really hadn't meant to. It was just a stupid mistake.

* * *

Alex is a fine name; short for Alexander in most cases, but in Alex Crink's case that was not so. Alex was short for nothing and Alex liked it that way. He had never cared for round-about nor fluctuating paths. He didn't like frou-frou or fluff. Alex Crink liked simplicity. He reveled in predictability. He knew exactly where his life was going and, for the majority of the time, he took comfort in that fact. 

But Alex Crink was only human. He had his ups and his downs. He had days where he forgot what he wanted out of his life. He had days where he hated every moment and wished he was someone else. Like all humans, he wavered and made errors, then tried desperately to get back on his path. He hated those days where time just seemed to stand still, and everything he did felt irrevocably wrong.

Unfortunately for Alex Crink, today just happened to be one of those days. It was the third day in March; the first day of spring and the sun made its first spring time appearance to the joy and wonder of all the occupants of New York City. Well… maybe not all; for Alex Crink was stuck inside his ample Manhattan apartment staring into the Barbie doll face of his soon to be ex-girlfriend.

"What do you mean you're breaking up with me?" the girl asked Alex shrilly her plastic face melting away to reveal the witch that lived just beneath the surface. Alex had vivid flashbacks to eighth grade where he'd melted his baby sister's entire Barbie doll collection.

Alex shrugged and tried not to back down. He had to remember not to visibly waver. Kim, the soon to be ex, was a true demon; no need to show her any signs of weakness or else she'd attack. "I mean, it's over, Kim. Did you really not see this coming?" With great effort he kept his face passive. It wasn't that he was intentionally trying to hurt her; it's just with Kim, if any question had been left on the status of their relationship, she'd use it to her advantage and weasel back in.

"Of course I didn't!" she shouted shrilly at his bored face. Kim and Alex had one of those horrible on-again off-again relationships. It'd been almost three years since they'd first started dating; they'd been together for about half that time. Alex was a bit sick of it. Today's break-up would tally up with the other eight "break-ups" for a grand total of _nine_.

Alex rolled his eyes at her. If anyone could actually s_ee_ Kim they'd think that Alex Crink was insane. Kim was stunning. She had a perfect curtain of blond hair that she kept ram-rod straight. She had round baby-blues, pouty pink lips and a picturesque body. She was the epitome of everything Alex had dreamed about back in his nerdy high school days, but Alex had since learned that dreams are never as good in real life.

"Kim," he replied in exasperation, trying to mask his ambivalence. "Can't we just end this and walk away with some final shreds of dignity? I'm tired of carrying you around like arm candy. I'm tired of watching you flirt with every man that crosses your path. And, _most of all_, I'm tired of funding your jobless, expensive lifestyle."

Kim was almost panicking, but Kim was a fighter. She shot Alex a sultry smile and leaned closer to him on his sticky leather sofa. She pressed a passionate kiss to his lips, but Alex was unresponsive. He quickly pushed her away; she'd used that tactic far too many times for him to still fall for it. "C'mon baby," she purred, grabbing his hand as he leapt off the sofa.

But Alex was far too frustrated and far too moody to fall for that today. "No, you c'mon, Kim. Why are we still together? You don't even like me."

Kim dropped the seductress act and glared at him as she crossed her arms. "So?" she asked with pierced lips.

Alex's face filled with disbelief. "'So?' Are you kidding me?"

"God Alex, be realistic for once in your life," she replied finally standing from the sofa and confronting him. "I was never in it for the love. You weren't either. I wanted the cash. You wanted the sex and arm candy."

Alex shook his head slowly, not backing down to her commanding resolution. "There's more to life than that, _Kimmy_." She winced at the nickname. He had long since passed his yielding phase and, to be honest, Kim hated that. Alex was like a lost little puppy dog when they'd first met. He'd still had traces of his awkward past left all over him and had only recently discovered the pleasures that money could afford. Alex had been her pawn, but now he would challenge her. The last thing Kim wanted was a challenge.

"Still the hopeless optimist, I see," she sneered back, acquiescing and grabbing her Michael Kors coat off Alex's artistic recliner. The Alex boat had sailed, although she doubted it would sail for long, and Kim wasn't so sure she wanted passage to the new world. "I give it another six months before you're just as jaded as the rest of us." She grabbed her Prada from his liquor bar and strode to the door, her Jimmy Choos digging holes in his hardwood floor. It would be over for now, just as it had been "over" in the past.

"Uh-huh. Okay, Kimmy. Watch out for the door," he sang, finally abandoning his placid expression for a mocking grin. She cocked her head to the side and sneered, seconds away from a biting reply when he slammed the door in her face.

Kim glared holes in the hardwood. Like it would _ever_ be over…

* * *

"So?" Tanner questioned his best friend, desperate to hear tales of the latest torn romance, not that he considered Alex and Kim anything even closely related to romance. Kim wasn't the romantic type, but Tanner was, and his suppressed romantic side was begging for tales of his best friend's woes; nothing like stories of heartbreak over a couple of hot dogs to remind a guy what life is all about. 

Alex shrugged and swallowed. "Not much to tell, it's just over," Alex replied simply. He wasn't much of a story teller, no elaborate metaphors or adjectives. Things were how they were to Alex, no need for embellishment. "Let's just hope it's for the last time."

Tanner nodded his assurance eagerly back. "Trust me, no one wanted you to ditch her more than me," he replied. "I still maintain that it was no accident that Jester '_jumped_' off my balcony with only her witnessing it."

Alex laughed. He had a nice laugh, a genuine laugh that no sane person could witness and not feel the sincerity of. "You still claiming she threw your dog off your balcony? That was almost two years ago."

Tanner smiled. Alex's happiness was more that genuine, it was contagious. When Alex was in that mood everyone around him was in that glowing mood. "If you let sleeping dogs lie, they could wake up and bite you at any moment." Tanner had a tendency to take accepted idioms and turn them upside down. Alex thought it was funny that Tanner hadn't even realized he did this; it was a characteristic he'd inherited from his self-righteous, southern mother.

Tanner and Alex had been best friends since their freshman year at Brown. Alex was a lawyer's son from Maryland that had finally discovered during those early Brown days that he didn't have to wear his glasses that were as thick as plate glass windows and that with a little hair gel and a lot of eyebrow plucking he could look absolutely nothing like he had in high school. Tanner was a southern boy from the middle of nowhere that got stuck smack dab in the middle of Providence, Rhode Island with dreams of becoming the nation's greatest architect. They were the most unlikely of friends, but, like most great relationships, they were friends against the odds.

They'd been with each other through thick and thin and everything in between. Alex was right beside him for Tanner's 21st birthday and even made sure his drunken best friend got home okay. Tanner was there through Alex's startup of his internet company after all his life Alex had been made fun of as a techie. Alex, as best man of course, endured Tanner's first marriage to the deceitful Katie, and was even more supportive through Tanner's heartbreaking divorce a mere nine months later. And finally, and most surprising of them all, their friendship even managed to survive three years of Kim, and _that_ says something.

It had been a trying couple of months for their friendship, as Alex put all of himself into Kim, so consumed on finally making his relationship work. Kim was insanely possessive and made absolutely sure to pit friend against friend for nothing but her own amusement. Finally, after four grueling months, Alex saw that he was only kidding himself trying to be with Kim, and Tanner was more than supportive of such a realization. Tanner loathed Kim to her very core, but it spoke volumes of his loyalty to his friend that he never forced Alex to end it.

"So what would you like to do now that you're free of the Evil One's clutches?" Tanner asked with a suggestive grin. It was possible that Tanner had a thing for dancers and had been begging Alex to be his wing man.

Alex shrugged and looked around him. It'd been a long time since he hadn't had to worry about Kim and it felt good to be free. He wanted to clear his head, like he hadn't done since college. He was a bit tired of the city, it moved so fast sometimes. "How about some peace and quiet? How about we just get away for a bit?"

Tanner's eyebrows shot up. An adventure outside of the city sounded perfect to him, he was born a small town boy and had never fully acclimated to the fast paced city life. "Did you have something in mind?" he asked, already knowing full well the perfect place to take Alex, a place so far gone Alex would think it was a whole other planet.

"Paris maybe?" Alex suggested. "I haven't been in a while."

Tanner made a disgusted face. "Too much trouble to put up with that whole language barrier, but I think I know just the place."

Alex eyed him suspiciously. "You know that Queens doesn't count as a vacation, right?"

Tanner mingled a smile and a mischievous grin, and Alex suddenly found himself very afraid. Last time his best friend had gotten a look like that Alex had woken the next morning stark naked on a fishing boat with a butterfly tattoo.

* * *

Kill the Moonlight, Stab the Sun 

Friday, March 4

Mood: Relieved

Music: Dancing in the Moonlight; Toploader

I'm at rest stop on I-20. I've been driving for the past six hours and you all may think I'm crazy, but I'm determined to get home. I know what you're thinking: "But I thought Andy Holly had no home! I thought she was a lost soul that would endlessly roam the earth until her own doomsday!"

Well, I'm not going to argue. On a technicality, I could say that I don't have a niche, but I do have a home. Yes, believe it or not the small town of Selma, Alabama is the hole in the ground from which I've climbed out of.

I have absolutely no clue why I'm so driven to get back. Maybe I just have a bad feeling about what might happen there. Like maybe there's something I'm supposed to be there for. You know how reliant I am on my feelings. Plus, deep down inside I miss my family. I have a twin sister, did you even know that? Her name is Claire and she's my best friend in the world, but so damn rooted that I never get to see her. I would beg her to visit me, but Claire's not much for the road and I have no home for her to stay at. So I don't see her but every three months when I get the urge to breeze through Selma before I pick my next destination.

So it'll be home, for now. Maybe in another week, or even five minutes, I'll have changed my mind and who knows where I'll end up then. There are some things that are just too far out of our control…

Coming to a town near you,

Andy Holly

* * *

The flight from New York, LaGuardia to the small airport of Montgomery, Alabama is a mere two hour trek, but within those two hours Alex found himself transported to a world completely beyond his scope. This was a world in which Tim McGraw was the rest of the nation's Puff Daddy. This was a place where an old Ford pick-up was customary to life and sub ways were completely unheard of. 

To make things worse, Montgomery wasn't even their final destination. No, it got even worse than that, if such a feat was possible. For after they exited their tiny little aircraft and made it out of the airport, a task that only required five minutes, Tanner rented them a car and drove Alex another hour out of town to a tiny little blotch on the map called Selma, Alabama.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" Alex asked as he watched the tree lined road, US-80, in disbelief. There'd been recent fires in the area and the wilderness now more closely resembled a wasteland. Alex could have sworn that barren land more closely resembled the terrain of Mars.

Tanner chuckled and turned to his best friend. "I thought you'd be a bit shocked. We ain't in Jersey anymore, eh?"

"This is definitely not Jersey," he muttered against the window, trying not to wince. "And I can't believe you just said," he hesitated over the word, "'aint.'"

Tanner laughed again. "You're in Bama country now, son. Best be gettin' used to the talk." Tanner was laying it on think. Alex was now trying to suppress his fears that his best friend was in fact a Martian.

"At times like these, I wonder why we're friends." Alex was smiling as he pulled his head away from the glass. "What kind of friend would drag his best friend out to the middle of nowhere?"

"The kind that still talks to you when you wear those damn goggles you call glasses. And this is my hometown. I resent the insults." Alex tried not to wince. He hated when Tanner brought up his less refined characteristics. It wasn't his fault he had such bad eyesight.

Alex turned back to the window. There was absolutely nothing to look at out there. With nothing to distract him it wasn't long before he drifted into a light sleep. It only felt like moments later that a high-pitched squeal of delight woke him up.

"Tanner!" A heavy female accent rang through Alex's ears. Tanner's mother was practically pulling him from the car and Alex's hazy sleep was quickly pushed out of mind. "Boy, le'mme get a look at you. Aw you city boy! You got New York written all o'er you, I say." That was Mrs. Daniels for you. She was the epitome of a southern mother, equipped with a southern accent, an award winning pie recipe, and the gushing southern hospitality that would get a person killed in New York. "And Alex! Ew-wee boy. I ain't seen you in at least two years. Hank! _Hank_? Come see your son!" she shouted in the direction of the family barn, but she had Alex wrapped in a headlock and her voice practically caused him to go temporarily deaf.

"It's good to see you, Mrs. Daniels," he replied politely as she finally released him and he rubbed his neck, which was still tender from sleeping against a car window.

Alex looked up to the house for the first time. It was like something out of a picture. Alex had always known the Daniels to be one of those wealthy southern families that still lived on their family plantations that pre-dated the Civil War, but this was to an extreme and seeing the establishment for the first time was a bit shocking to him. The building was picturesque, with a white picket fence and a cobblestone walkway adorning. It was damn big too, and this coming from a kid who grew up in a New England Victorian. As Alex pulled his eyes away from the entrapping building Tanner was pulling bags out of the trunk of their shiny rental. The little car seemed so out of place; it was just too new.

"Did I hear someone mention my son?" Hank Daniels asked loudly as he popped out of their brilliant red barn, pulling off his gloves that were dyed black from some sort of grease.

"Hey pop," Tanner said grinning at his father as his "pop" wrestled his son into a headlock of his own and Alex tried to ignore the use of the word "pop."

"You been working on that tractor again?" Mrs. Daniels asked shrilly as she popped her husband on the arm. Hank dropped his son's embrace and cocked a grin at his wife. Tanner stepped away from their exchange with black grease spots on his Polo shirt, and grabbed his bags once again. "I told you that thing's as dead as a turkey on thanksgiving. You best be getting' rid of it and lookin' for a new one come harvest."

_Harvest?_ They literally farmed down here, but that wasn't where they got their money from. Hank's father accidentally stumbled into fortune when he invested the last of his family's money into a lowly company, called Mars Bars, which skyrocketed to a multi-billion dollar franchise. Now they were the wealthiest family in the state of Alabama, or so Alex guessed, not understanding the concept of southern money.

"I'll fix it!" Hank replied, holding up his arms in a defensive surrender, his gloves flopping in his left hand, as Mrs. Daniels popped his arm again. "I tell ye'h, it'll get fixed, woman."

_Woman. _This place was so foreign to Alex. You spoke to a girl in New York like that and you were automatically a chauvinistic pig. He was pretty sure the term was no longer politically correct.

"You bes'! If come fall that still ain't fixed I'll give you a wallopin' you'll never forget," she hollered. "Now go say hello to Alex," she commanded in the same tone.

"Hey there Alex. Ain't seen you in ages." Hank walked over to the young man, appraising him in the same manner that Alex curiously examined the man's grease stained face, shirt and hands. "You city boys is much too thin, now aren't ye'h? We'll have to fix that." He grinned at Alex, picked up his bag before he could protest, and began to lead him inside where Mrs. Daniels had just bustled off to. "You still with that one girl? That Kam girly?"

"Kim?" Alex asked still trying to decipher what Mr. Daniels had said. "No. We just broke up actually."

"That's a real shame," Hank said as he swung Alex into their comfortable house. It was a blur of color. Unlike his own apartment back home, the Daniel's house was a flurry of color and objects. They obviously didn't care if people saw everything, whereas in New York everyone wanted their apartments to appear as if no one actually lived there. "Well there ain't nothin' like a little southern comfort to mend a broken heart! You want quiet, we got plenty of that. You want distractions, we got that too."

"I think I'd like a little of both actually," Alex replied.

"Great!" Hank interrupted excitedly before Alex could say anything more. "A man of my own heart; well you came to the right place."

Alex was still pretty sure the right place would have been the French Riviera, but he didn't say that.

* * *

Alex was still trying to find the TV an hour later when Tanner found him poking around an anonymous bedroom. "Dude, what're you doing in my sister's bedroom?" Tanner asked, eyeing him wearily from the doorway. 

"This is Stella's? I thought it was where porcelain dolls went to die," he replied sarcastically and gestured around the room to the dolls on every available surface and the lacy, pinkness of the room. He hadn't known that real girls could stand so much… girliness.

Tanner laughed appreciatively and gestured for Alex to get out. "You better not let my mom or Stella hear you say that or else you'll never hear the end of it. Apparently doll collecting is acceptable 'round here."

Alex scoffed and hopped out of the room. "Au contraire, doll collecting is acceptable in no culture unless you're six."

"Well to Stella and Ma, that's about as good as it gets."

"So?" Alex asked slowly. "What's there to do around here?"

Tanner shrugged. "Well Pa wanted to know if you wanted to go fishing tonight. He has this theory that fish like to have dinner 'round dusk, so that's the best time to catch them."

Alex snorted. He could have sworn Tanner was joking. It took him several moments to discern that he was in fact perfectly serious. "And what do we do until then?" Alex asked once he'd regained his composure.

"Well I got some people I have to go see. You should come meet some of the locals with me," Tanner suggested. Alex conjured up images of buck-toothed, inbreeding families that always kept their shotguns within reach. His reluctance was evident immediately. "Oh c'mon," Tanner pleaded. "We're just gonna go see Claire and the Hollys."

"You want to go see your ex?" Alex asked eyeing him oddly. Maybe he _was_ a Martian. No respectable man would purposely go see his old high school girlfriend. "What kind of place is this?"

Tanner shrugged. "You've obviously never met the Hollys. They're a very respectable family here. They're known for Mrs. Holly's famous jam and having three of the most attractive daughters in all of Alabama. One of which just happens to be my ex, but what can I say? 'All my exes live in Texas.'"

Alex was a bit confused. He was pretty sure Tanner had never dated a girl from Texas. "They do?" he asked ignorantly as he followed Tanner down the stairs.

Tanner stopped on his step and turned to his best friend, his eyes glowing in mirth. "Oh, you did not just say that. Not recognizing a George Strait song," he continued shaking is head sadly, "that a capital offense around here, Alex." He started back down the stairs again. "You better hope that Andy isn't around. Boy, she'd have a field day with you."

Alex shrugged and continued to follow Tanner. He still wasn't sure what Texas had to do with the matter.

* * *

About ten minutes down the road was where the Hollys, lived. Alex was still a bit floored that it could take so long just to get to the nearest neighbor. You never had that problem where he came from. Man, you could scream for days out there on the Daniels' farm and no one would be the wiser. _They must have an unusually high murder rate._

The Holly's house was a quaint little house on the edge of town that backed up against an untamed forest with a hand-painted sign out front that cleverly dubbed the place "Holly-wood." They had a customary rusted pick-up and a beat up yellow bug in their driveway, which Tanner parked behind before he eagerly jumped out of their rental. "Do I look alright?" he asked anxiously as he licked his fingers and used the moisture to settle a stray piece of hair.

Alex laughed; once again he falsely thought his best friend was kidding. "What's it matter?"

Tanner shot him a dubious look. "Claire Holly is the prettiest girl I've seen in my entire life, and that includes our model friends. She's got this whole girl-next-door wholesomeness about her that makes you want to throw her over your shoulder, take her on home with you, and corrupt her until the sun comes up."

Alex shot his best friend yet another doubtful look. Wholesome didn't sound sexy to him at all. He much preferred flat out sexy.

"Her sister's aren't that bad either," Tanner added with a flicker of his eyebrows and a quick suggestive smile. "I'd say Andy's more your type, but it don't look like she's here."

Alex thought Tanner was a bit naïve to think that Alex would find anyone his type in a place like this, and there was no way this Claire girl could be _that_ attractive. Plus how did Tanner know Andy wasn't there? Did he have her car memorized or something?

Tanner nervously stepped onto the Holly's "Welcome" mat and laughed when he saw the byline someone had tacked onto the bottom of the mat in black sharpie. It now, quite cleverly, read: "Welcome to hell!" Tanner followed Alex's eye line to the mat. "That'll be from-" he began but was cut off when the door swung open and a plump older lady squealed in delight. "Tanner? Why I hardly believe my eyes!"

Five seconds later a gorgeous blond in a flowery sundress raced up to the door, slightly breathless. "Why Claire! Look who's here!"

"Momma you almost gave me a heart attack with all that hollerin'. I thought you'd gone and fainted again," Claire rambled as she peered around the door and immediately her delicate face lit up. "Tanner!" she whispered in disbelief.

"See I knew you just be out of your head," the lady, who was obviously Mrs. Holly, bustled as she moved out of the way and whirled her hand for them to come inside. "And lookey here! Tanner's brought himself a friend!"

"Yes ma'am," Tanner uttered politely as he bowed his head a bit for respect and Alex tried not to stare as the gorgeous blond, Claire, blushed sweetly. Alex hadn't believed it, but there was undeniable proof right there in front of his eyes; Claire Holly most definitely lived up to her reputation. "This is my friend Alex. He's a bit shy."

Alex scowled. Few people had ever described Alex as shy, but he immediately understood why his friend had labeled him as such; compared to these people, even domineering Kim looked shy and docile.

"Well that just won't do, honey. We'll just have to coax you out of your shell." Mrs. Holly continued to speak almost nonstop as she led Alex by the arm to a chair at their kitchen table. "Now would you like some jam? I got raspberry. Oh what am I sayin'? No one says no to raspberry jam!"

"Mmm-hmm," Tanner agreed as he too took a chair at the kitchen table, and Claire gracefully fell into a chair of her own.

"Now would you like toast or a biscuit?" Mrs. Holly asked quickly. Alex hesitated a few moments trying to decipher what she'd said, but at that point Mrs. Holly had no need for his reply and vowed to get him one of each.

"You just missed Carolynn," Claire said gently to Tanner. "She'll be real upset too. She's been dyin' to see you for years now."

Tanner blushed slightly and smiled at the girl. Alex couldn't tell if Tanner was happy or mesmerized by the look he was giving Claire. Alex hadn't seen Tanner so enamored since before he'd found out about Katie's affair.

"Oh, Carolynn's been dyin' to see Tanner, even before he skipped town. She's been jelly-legged for Tanner since that girl could talk," Mrs. Holly continued as she dropped a biscuit in front of Alex and Tanner followed closely by a small jar of jam that was laid in the middle of the table then hurried off to put some toast in the oven. "Why if she weren't married, I'd be worried she'd make a move on you Tanner dear."

Tanner's blush quickly subsided and he looked up at Claire silently asking her a question as Alex vowed to later ask him what exactly "jelly-legged" meant.

"Oh that's right!" Claire exclaimed recognizing Tanner's puzzlement. "You weren't around for the weddin'! I forgot that anyone could not know, the way Carolynn made such a fuss about it."

"Who's she married to?" Tanner asked as he chomped away on his biscuit after covering it in hefty amounts of the odd colored jam.

"Ben from down the lane," Mrs. Holly said as she hustled back to the table and dropped the toast onto each of their plates as well. "He's a sweet boy, works so hard to provide for my little girl." Alex had no clue who "Ben from down the lane" was, but it didn't sound like this Carolynn girl had set her sights too far in life if she'd only made it down the lane. Mrs. Holly finally stopped rushing around the kitchen and dropped into a seat beside Alex. "I just had an awfully smart idea!" Mrs. Holly exclaimed in delight, but based on her vernacular and grammatically incorrect phrasing, Alex seriously doubted it. "We should have a little party for your homecoming; just a little get-together so that you can get reacquainted with everyone!"

"That'd be real nice ma'am," Tanner agreed readily. "I was just wonderin' how I was going to introduce Alex to everyone." Alex tried not to wince at such an idea, if he couldn't follow a conversation with just three other people; he wasn't sure how he'd fare against a whole town of them. He also tried to ignore how Tanner's accent was growing stronger with every sentence. You can take the boy out of the south, but you can't take the south out of the boy.

Mrs. Holly smiled excitedly. Obviously the woman was bored and in need of something to occupy her time. "It's just a shame Andy won't be 'round for it?"

"Where is Andy these days?" Tanner asked seeming genuinely curious.

"Hells bells, I don' think no one knows that!" Mrs. Holly yelled out seeming slightly frustrated by such an idea. "That girl don' tell her family nothin'."

Tanner laughed at the woman's outburst, but Claire supplied delicately, "'Bout a month ago she called. She was headin' to either Dallas or New Orleans. She hadn't decided which."

Tanner whistled. "That's quite a choice. Not quite the same type of places, are they? Do you know which she chose?"

Claire shrugged helplessly and her mother butted in yet again. "Chose? Who's to say she did? That girl never made a decision in her life and I be damned if she'd started now!"

"What brings you two to town anyway?" Claire asked changing the subject, her eyes obviously glued to Tanner. Apparently she really liked his new "city boy" look.

Tanner patted him hard against the back. "Oh just tryin' to get Alex here over a fresh break-up."

"Needin' a bit of rebound sex, eh son?" Mrs. Holly asked simply.

"Momma!" Claire hissed in embarrassment, Alex felt his eyes grow wide in shock, and Tanner tried not to choke on his biscuit. That was a bit brash, even when talking to a "city boy."

But Mrs. Holly ignored all three of them and instead chose to fret about Alex's untouched food. "Try it with some jam," she prodded. "Or do you prefer marmalade? I have more flavors if you like. We got peach, strawberry, my famous mango-"

"That's all right, Mrs. Holly," Alex interrupted, thinking that her list could go on for days at that rate. "I'm just not hungry."

"Oh," she replied, sounding almost hurt then dropped her shoulders pathetically.

There was a short awkward silence that Tanner eventually broke with a cough. "Would it be all right if we hung around and watched a bit of TV? Ours is on the fritz and I think Alex would like a little prime time lovin'."

Claire smiled slightly and nodded. "It's right in the den," she said softly and led the two boys to a small room filled almost to the brim with homemade pillows of every color. She turned on the TV and flicked through the channels until she came to a stop on an old Fiends rerun.

_Finally_, Alex thought relieved, _a little bit of home_.

* * *

It was about twenty minutes later, when the show ended, that Alex finally realized he was sitting in a stranger's den all by himself. It turns out Tanner and Claire had left for a walk almost ten minutes before without him even noticing. He was a bit miffed by such an action and quickly left in a huff to go find Tanner. 

He felt a bit weird looking through a person's house without their supervision and quickly stepped outside, hoping that they'd gone for an outdoor walk, like they indeed had, and that he'd discover them without poking through a strange house. He quickly located a pair of white Nikes sticking out from under the rusty blue truck and assumed them to be Tanner's.

"Did that old bag trick you into fixing her cars now as well, Tanner?" he asked the sneakers. "Or are you just trying to seek refuge from her incessant ramblings?" The owner of the sneakers didn't respond, but Alex continued on without a doubt. "Are you still mad at me for doubting you about the Holly girls? Ok, Claire lived up to her reputation, I'll grant you that, but there is absolutely no way the other two are as pretty as you say. I mean one married the boy down the lane and the other is off rattling her way across America. What is she, in the circus or something?"

Suddenly, the white sneakers moved. They pressed their soles firmly against the ground and pushed off sending the owner of the sneakers sliding out from under the truck. There lay a girl upon a dolly with flowing brown hair splayed all around her and round, brown eyes that peered up at him from a sea of scattered freckles.

Alex blinked down at the girl in shock for several long seconds, before the girl smiled knowingly and spoke. "Well, hi there!" a heavily accented voice spoke as the girl stood up and offered Alex her hand. "I'm Andy."

* * *

_I told you guys to expect a chaper pretty soon. I've been dying to post this for a very ong time now, but, as you can see, it has very long chapters so updates may be a bit difficult to come by. I'm just laying that out there..._

_Sometimes I read this and think it's a bit too Southern. Like maybe you won't understand that "All My Exes Live in Texas" is a legendary George Strait song (my favorite country artist, as you will soon see. I use his music a lot!) and have absolutely no clue what "Fishin' in the Dark" is all about. Well it's nothing a little internet research cant fix. Look up some of these songs and listen to them. They're all of my favorites and I'm, by no means, a country music fanatic. I do love George Strait though and if you at all enjoy country music I suggest you listen to some of these songs (if you don't know them already. I 'm sure at least some of you will.)_

_Also, I'm quite sorry about the typos. You're right, I do need a Beta because I'm a dyslexic with clumsy fingers. When I read it I still read what's in my head and not necessarily what I put on the screen. I'm too close to the project to edit it. (Plus I'm one o those people that only read the first and last letter, leaving the rest in my head) When I read things later I look at it and think I must be such an idiot to let that slide through. I'm really sorry. I'm planning to get some serious editing done. If it really bothers anyone to the point that they cant concentrate on the story line, I'm willing to accept Beta volunteers._

_Ok I'm done boring you to death now. So do you like Alex? He's my favorite Darcy I've created._


	3. Wild One

_**Love to the Tune of a Country Song**_

"They said change your clothes  
She said no I won't  
They said comb your hair  
She said some kids don't  
And her parents dreams went up in smoke

"They said you can't leave  
She said yes I will  
They said don't see him  
She said his name is Bill  
She's on a roll and it's all uphill

"She's a wild one  
With an angel's face  
She's a woman-child  
In a state of grace  
When she was three years old on her daddy's knee  
He said you can be anything you want to be  
She's a wild one  
Runnin' free"

Faith Hill;

* * *

Ok so the boy was a bit stupid at times, but he still has his redeeming qualities if the girl had stopped long enough to notice. Anyway, the girl ran wild. She jumped and frolicked about without a care in the world; partly because she had nothing to prove and partly because she was fairly insane. 

Still, her carefree demeanor only proved to make the boy fall even more in love with her. She was mischievous and slightly crazy and he liked the way her eyes lit up when she laughed. He wondered if she felt that way about him as well…

* * *

Alex had been staring at Andy Holly's extended right hand for what felt like an eternity. He cocked his head to the side and stared at it from a different angle, but the hand only lingered for another few second's before its owner withdrew it. 

"You're not from 'round here, are ye'h?" Andy's heavily accented voice asked, dripping in amusement she hardly bothered to suppress. Amazingly enough Alex was able to distinguish what she was saying, but despite translating the foreign tongue for the first time, he still found his voice lacking and Andy laughed at his prolonged silence. "I'm guessin' you're a friend of Claire's," she added, her voice still etched with amusement, but then she ran her eyes over Alex's appearance and changed her mind. "I take that back, you're much more Carolynn's type."

"I-I" he began shakily, but quickly stopped to clear his head before he spoke again. He didn't know if it was a cat that had his tongue or pure mortification. Was it at all possible that this girl hadn't heard everything he'd just said? She didn't seem too angered or perturbed if she had, but he was pretty sure he could distinguish a note of derision in her voice. Alex drew himself back together and finally managed an entire sentence. "I'm a friend of Tanner's."

Her eyes lit up and sparkled. Alex could have sworn that moments ago they were chocolaty brown, but now they seemed a crystalline green. Was the light playing tricks on him? "Tanner's here?" she asked with excited curiosity. "Where at?"

Alex nodded once to answer her first question and shrugged to answer the second. Andy let her eyes swoop up and down Alex once more and Alex felt distinctly uncomfortable under her scrutiny. She quirked her eyebrows again and Alex noticed that her entire body seemed to be laughing at him. She had one shoulder relaxed at an easy angle and one of her white sneakers tapping the driveway rhythmically. Her lips were pressed together in a way that crinkled the corners of her mouth as if she were hiding a biting laugh and her eyelashes danced across her sparkling eyes that were suddenly back to the brown he'd first assigned to them. She watched him for a second, still evaluating him as he shuffled beneath her beaming gaze.

Alex didn't know how long they remained locked in such a manner, but he had the feeling that her brain was discussing furiously the impact this new outsider had. Alex was merely contemplating her. Tanner had mentioned the renowned beauty of the Holly sisters and proven an instance of his observations by introducing him to Claire. Alex hadn't believed him, but, if it was possible, Andy was even more stunning than her sister. Claire had an innocence about her, Andy had a fire.

"Is that Tucker?" Alex whirled around at the sound of his best friend's voice and glared at Tanner as he came tumbling out of the woods followed closely by a blushing Claire Holly.

"Tanner!" But Tanner was never to notice Alex's glare, he was enraptured by the sight of the one and only Andy Holly who squealed in delight at the sight of Tanner and raced into his arms. Andy hit Tanner's chest with an, "oomph" and smiled up at him. "Where have you been all this time?" Andy asked.

Tanner shrugged. "New York City. Where have you been?"

Andy smiled and waved her hand dismissively, finally stepping away from Tanner with an unbeatable smile. "Oh here and there. Just a few places I thought I'd check out."

"A few places?" Tanner asked with amusement.

Andy smiled secretively. "Well maybe a couple more." She reached out to Claire and wrapped herself around Claire's torso. "Have you missed me dearly, sister dearest?" Andy asked with a mock-British accent as her sister tried not to grimace at such an embarrassing display.

"'Course. Although I'd miss you less if you came home more often," Claire replied, pulling her sister off of her in a way a person would yank off an octopus that had attached itself to their torso.

Andy shrugged. "I don't see how you're complaining, Twinny. I spend more time here than I spend anywhere else, now don't I?"

Claire shot her sister a pierced look. "That's hardly sayin' anything, Andy."

"Ok Ma," Andy shot sarcastically as she wrapped her arm over her sister's shoulders. "And if we're demanding explanations, please explain to me why you were in the Holly-woods with _my_ best friend?"

Alex observed as both Tanner and Claire flushed at least three shades darker, but Andy just giggled at the slightly awkward situation. "Ah, you two; still like embarrassed like high schoolers. Reminds me of that time Archie caught you two down by the Alabama having _conveniently_ misplaced your clothes." Alex was wrong. It turned out Claire and Tanner could flush even pinker without their heads exploding. Alex had to admit he was surprised that he joined Andy on her raucous laughter with such ease. He had a deep chortling laugh, while Andy's was a high pitched, bobbing hum. Their laughter seemed to melt together into a musical melody.

"And who's this city boy anyway?" Andy continued pointing briefly at Alex, her laughter finally subsiding. "You ain't bringing home lovers Tanner, are ye'h?"

Tanner flushed once again and Alex tried to hide his confusion. Andy didn't possibly think that he-

"Andy!" Claire chastised her sister quickly. "You know that ain't true. Now take it back!"

Andy smiled and flounced in her position. "I'll never take anything back. I apologize for nothin'."

Tanner glared at the little brunette and quickly lifted her off the ground and over his shoulder. "You'll be apologizing to _me_." He cackled evilly. "I know your weakness, Andrea!" She laughed as he ran his fingers over her stomach and tickled her.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she squawked eventually and Tanner reluctantly set her back down. "And don't call me Andrea!" she finished as soon as she was free of his grasp and barreled her fist as hard as she could into Tanner's forearm.

"Now apologize to Alex," Tanner commanded grabbing her hands to prevent further attack.

Andy bit back a smile and turned to Alex, who had observed the entire exchange with slight confusion. He'd never seen Tanner act that way. "_Sorry_, Alex," Andy said smiling wickedly in a way that suggested she wasn't sorry whatsoever. In fact, he felt more as though she were challenging him.

"Sorry Alex, that's as good of an apology as you're gonna get." Tanner smiled at his best friend and as soon as both the Holly girls weren't looking he shot Alex an "I-told-you-so" grin and a hasty wink. "We should be going soon, anyway."

Andy's wandering attention immediately shot right back to Tanner and she quickly protested. By the time she got to, "But I haven't seen you in eight years!" Tanner was holding her arms again to keep her from punching him.

"I'm sorry, Andy, but I told Ma we'd be home for dinner and I promised Pop we'd go fishing with him tonight!" Tanner replied, fully on the defensive. It seemed to Alex that Andy and Tanner were far too physical with each other. Claire, however, appeared wholly unperturbed by their interaction, as if she were used to it on a day to day basis.

"You're goin' fishin' tonight?" Andy asked excitedly and Tanner nodded his assent. Andy's face broke out into a clear smile and she suddenly burst into song. "You and me goin' fishin' in the dark."

Tanner picked up the rhythm right where Andy had left off, with equal amusement. "Lyin' on our backs and countin' the stars."

"Where the cool grass grows," the two of them sang in perfect timing, Claire even joining in for the last words. It was odd the way they broke out in song; either like they were reading each other's minds, or as if it were rehearsed. Like something out of a weird southern musical.

On top of that, Alex had never heard Tanner's accent quite so strong. Sure he'd had that twanging southern drawl when they'd first met in college, but that had faded long ago and Alex couldn't remember it being _that_ strong. He eyed the pair with beady confusion. Secretly he was calculating the odds of his best friend truly being a Martian.

Claire smiled and shook her head at their antics. "Andy, you best go see Ma. If she knows you were here without goin' straight to her, she'll never shut up about it." Andy glared at her sister and crossed her arms, not moving an inch. Claire ignored her and continued, "Tanner, you better go if you wanna be home for supper. It's almost dark and you're momma wont wait very long." Tanner shrugged, but like Andy didn't move an inch. Finally, Claire turned to Alex, ignoring the other two. "And Alex. It was real nice to meet you. I hope we see you again soon."

"Tonight!" Andy declared holding up a single finger in proclamation. "We're goin' fishin' in the dark, Twinny!"

"Yeah!" Tanner agreed stubbornly. "We're _all_ goin' fishin' in the dark." Alex suddenly had an ominous feeling about the outcome of the evening, but one thing was sure: he wasn't bored anymore.

* * *

Kill the Moonlight, Stab the Sun 

Saturday, March 5

Mood: Conflicted

Music: Everyday America; Sugarland

Being home again always gives me mixed emotions. On the one hand I get to see my family and all my long losts (even if my mother is the most high-maintenance, senile woman ever, my baby sis is a whiney momma's girl, and my twin is a passive supermodel). It's a great place. There really is no place like home.

But being back here always gives me this irrepressible feeling of being trapped. When we were still in school, Claire used to say that I have extreme claustrophobia. That I couldn't be in a town this small without feeling like a bird stuck in a cage. (Oh, why does the caged bird sing?) But I've been to most of America, I've lived in towns big and small and I sometimes still get that claustrophobic feeling. It makes me want to run away. So here I am again… flown south for the winter (Is March still considered winter?).

Anyway it's still so weird every time I come back here. It's like I change so much with every place I go, with every day, and this place stays exactly the same. Like some sort of time warp. I'm right back in high school again and now that my old high school buddy, Tanner, is back it really is just like old times. Right back where things were. How is that even possible?

Although one thing has changed… Tanner decided to bring home one of his friends, Alex. Alex is attractive enough (ok… that's a lie. He's _very_ attractive.), but that hardly matters because he's got a bit of a stick up his ass. I mean seriously dude, chill out. He also mentioned something about the circus and my mother being a big mouth. I find this funny because my mother does talk incessantly (trust me; I got an earful today on why I hadn't called her. Duh! I don't own a phone!) and that circus thing was definitely one I hadn't heard before. Well he's a bit odd and, like I said previously, has a huge stick up his ass, but I still find myself intrigued.

Anyway, we're nighttime fishing (Fishin' in the Dark! Gotta love a little Nitty Gritty Dirt Band...) with Mr. Daniels, which is always fun.

God, _home_. How do people just sit around this place? I'll never understand how Claire does it. Do you think she's secretly poppin' Riddilin? I swear sometimes there is no way she's my twin…

Coming to a town near you,

Andy Holly

* * *

Eating dinner at six was an odd sensation for Alex. He was almost positive he'd never eaten "supper" before seven-thirty and, to be perfectly honest, he wasn't all that hungry, but Mrs. Daniels just continued to heap more mashed potatoes onto his plate until he finally managed to push her arm away. 

Another odd sensation was eating dinner while under the constant observation of Tanner's younger sister, Stella. Stella was an odd creature. She was a high maintenance twenty-four year old that still lived with her parents and, worst of all, still spoke constantly about her debutante year. It had been the best year of her life and, even if it had taken place over six years ago, it was still her major focus. That was, until she met Alex.

Stella wasn't ignorant of how her life must look to an outsider. She was past what she considered to be her "prime marrying years." Her friends were all hitched, her brother had skipped town, and she wasn't even in a relationship. She hadn't even known how it'd happened. She was supposed to be married fresh out of high school and if not then, then at least by her junior year of college. But things had gone wrong, her perspective husband, Ben, was abruptly brainwashed by the heinous Carolynn Holly and the witch had run off with Stella's future fiancé before Stella had even known what happened. Next thing she knew she was graduating from Sweet Briar with a degree she'd never even thought she'd need, absolutely no plan for her life and, even worse, no fiancé. Needless to say, Stella still nursed the wound, playing it to her advantage.

But as soon as Stella met Alex Crink, she'd decided he was the perfect husband for her. Ben and Carolynn's betrayal was pushed aside for a new focus: marrying Alex. She liked the way he wore his jeans so they were slightly tight around his very firm posterior. He had a sweet round face, free of cleft chins and pock marks, but with a strong bone structure. He had a nice smile with crinkles around the corner of his mouth that gave him character, which also drew almost any woman to him and Stella knew would make Carolynn Holly (now begrudgingly McStewart) extremely jealous. But more than anything, Alex had a company, and money, and a place he could take her that wasn't in this town.

Unfortunately for Stella Daniels, when she'd first met Alex at her brother's wedding he was still enraptured by the wicked Kim and, even worse, he was devoutly uninterested. Stella was pretty enough, she had a sleek tightness to her that young boys found to be "so hot," but outside of that was slightly plain. She had no personality to speak of, and had somehow managed to permanently fix her face into a sneer. She had no interests or hobbies, outside of her old pageant days and her doll collecting, both of which freaked Alex out to no end.

Needless to say the entire world knew that things would never pan out between Stella and Alex, Stella excluded.

"Alex," she drawled his name in what she saw to be a seductive cooing, but was an annoying squeal to the rest of the table. "Tell me that story again. The one about how you and Tanner met." Stella's accent wasn't nearly as strong as her parents. Just like Tanner, she'd managed to fade away most of the rougher edges, although hers was for her pageant career.

Alex swallowed a hefty bite of mashed potatoes and grimaced. "Erm." He hesitated and looked around the kitchen table. Tanner was concentrating on sculpting his own mashed potatoes into an exact replica of their house while Hank was sneaking glances toward the TV in the next room (which Alex had helped him fix right before dinner) where he'd left on a recording of some old football game; but Mrs. Daniels, just like Stella, was staring at him expectantly. "Well, it was about a month into our freshman year and I was hanging out with a kid I'd met in my Chemistry Lab, who just happened to be Tanner's roommate, and Tanner comes back to his dorm, where we were playing some video game. Now Jack, Tanner's old roommate- I don't know if you ever met him- but he was a bit of an idiot. He turns to me when Tanner gets in and says, 'Hey dude. You'll like my roommate, he's from Alaska.'"

Stella started laughing; Alex didn't know what to do. The story wasn't even remotely funny, so he just stared at her oddly.

* * *

"Hank! Hank, come and help me with these dishes!" Mrs. Daniels was hovering over the sofa where the three men sat watching the game, brandishing a plate at her husband. 

Hank rolled his eyes before he turned to face the menacing form of his wife. "Honey, I been workin' all day and the game is on."

Mrs. Daniels looked as though she was about to smash her plate over her husband's head. "Don't you try that one on me! You've seen this same game at leas' twenty times!"

Hank scratched his head, buying his time until he could fabricate another excuse. Luckily, he was saved by a knock at the door. "Oh whaddya know. It must be the girls."

Tanner slowly rolled off the couch and waddled to the door; he'd eaten far too much and now he was paying for it. "Hey Claire," he groaned as he rubbed his belly in anguish.

"I know that look. Your momma must'a cooked tonight," Claire replied, amused by the greenish tint to Tanner's face. "I'm surprised you're even able to stand." Tanner stepped aside as Claire came into the house and was quickly accosted by Mrs. Daniels.

"Claire! You just missed supper." Mrs. Daniels escorted the girl into the living room with Tanner groaning along behind them.

"That's a'right, you think I'd ever make it outta my momma's house without a full belly?" Claire smiled at Hank and Alex as she entered their living room and greeted both with pleasure. "Andy says she's waitin' for you three down by the hole with her pole. Don't leave her waitin' too long if you know what's bes' for ye'h."

Tanner finally managed to suppress the nauseating knot in his stomach and put his arm over Claire's shoulder for support. "You ain't comin'?"

Claire shook her head. "Nah, I been sent on a special mission by Momma to help Mrs. Daniels with your party plannin'."

Mrs. Daniels smiled triumphantly and brandished her plate once again. "You two bes' get up and get a move on. Don't you dare leave poor Andy waitin' for you!" She bustled into the kitchen and returned with Hank's tackle box and a basket of desserts that she shoved into Alex's arms with directions to make sure they ate it. In a mere moment she'd pushed all three men out of her house.

Tanner rubbed his belly and smiled at his best friend while Hank set off around the barn to grab all three of them a fishing pole. "This must be kind of weird for you."

Alex shrugged. "Believe it or not, we fish a lot in Maryland. In fact we're kind of known for our seafood."

Tanner shook his head. "This isn't fishing, Alex. This is '_fishin_'.' Trust me, there's a huge difference." Just then Hank returned with their poles. And poles indeed, for that was all they were. There was no metal or reel. No bob or sinker, just a piece of what looked like bamboo with a string and a hook attached. Hank handed one to Alex with a proud smile. Tanner leaned into Alex and muttered so his father couldn't hear, "These are Pop's pride an' joy. He made 'em himself."

* * *

The fishing hole was just that, a _hole_, and as Alex approached the site for their night's escapades he became even more disappointed. That was it? Just a little round lake, if you could even call it that, with a diameter no more than four feet across. Where were the fish _living_ in such a small area? 

"Andy Holly!" Hank rushed up to the brunette and hugged her like she was his long-lost daughter.

"Hey Uncle Hank," she replied with a smile as she stepped back from him and picked up her fishing pole. It was very similar to the one Alex had been given, except that Andy had painted her bamboo stick a lime green so bright it seemed as though it was glowing in the dark.

"Are the fish bitin'?" Hank asked as he stuck a piece of chicken unceremoniously onto the rusted hook at the end of his string.

Andy raised her eyebrows in a suppressed laugh. "Oh you know these fish, Uncle Hank, tricky little bastards."

"It don' matter," Hank said as he sat on his tackle box and tossed his hook into the lake. Tanner too took a seat and tossed his hook, but Alex knew he'd never even bothered to place any bait on it. "I's more about the chase than the catch, innit?"

Andy nodded her agreement and Tanner just yawned. Alex was at a bit of a loss. They actually considered this to be fishing?

"So girly, what has my favorite Holly been up to?" Hank asked sleepily as he watched the late sun set with awe.

Andy smiled wickedly and cast Alex, who still stood there awkwardly, a pointed grin. "Well let's see, I did a little circus performing out in Reno."

Alex turned to the girl in confusion. He didn't know there was a circus in-

"There's no circus in Reno," Tanner pointed out, watching Andy as if trying to evaluate what she was up to. Alex, however, knew exactly what she was getting at and shuffled uncomfortably. So Andy _had_ heard what he'd said by the car…

"Oh silly me. I could have sworn I was in the circus. But you know what they say: What happens in Vegas!" Andy was grinning as she stared into the water with a glinting smile pressing her lips together.

"But you said you were in Reno." Tanner now also seemed quite amused. Maybe she was prone to making up stories? It didn't seem as though she was the kind of girl that spoke just to hear her voice. No, Alex was sure that only one of those was allowed per town, and Stella Daniels had that covered.

"Since when does it matter what I said? Half the things people say is just plain ole bull shit." Hank, who was half asleep by now, was quickly yanked out of his state by Andy's slightly elevated tone.

Tanner chuckled at his father, as the old man grunted and his eyelids fell heavily back onto his cheeks. As soon as his father was asleep Tanner stood from the ground and smiled at Andy. "If that's true, then _ninety_ percent of what you say is bull shit."

Andy stood as well and smiled at Tanner as she yanked her pole from the water and picked up the jacket she'd been sitting on. "It's true, innit? Do you think he's ready to be left?"

Tanner poked his father gently on the arm, but the old man remained immobile. Tanner smiled at Andy and nodded. "He's out cold. Let's go."

"Go where?" Alex asked in confusion.

"Fishin'!" Andy exclaimed as she set off in front of the two boys into the woods.

"There ain't no fish in there," Tanner explained pointing to the hole. "Pop just likes to think there is; so every time we wait 'till he falls asleep then we head on down to the Alabama where we catch _real_ fish."

"Later, we show 'em to good ole Hank and he thinks we caught 'em in the hole," Andy finished for him as she fell back a little to keep pace with the two boys. "Poor old man wonders why he's never caught a thing."

* * *

During the next three hours Alex learned a lot of new things about his best fiend. He learned that the first time Tanner was arrested was because he and Andy had a bet back in their sophomore year of high school over which of them could find a more attractive date to homecoming. Tanner had taken Claire (thus their romance had begun), but amazingly enough Andy won the bet when she'd shown up with their senior quarterback who is now a male model that rakes in a good ten million a year. Ironically, Claire was the prettiest girl in school and Tanner looked like an idiot for taking an impossible bet in the first place. Tanner had been arrested within the confines of the local Piggly-Wiggly under the charges of "indecent exposure." Andy bailed him out the next morning. 

He also heard the tale of how the entire student body knew when Tanner first lost his virginity. In a moment of pure insanity, Claire had confessed to her twin sister the more intimate aspects of her relationship with Tanner. Andy wasn't the squeamish type and had been her sister's confidant on the subject's projection for years, but still thought she'd like to have a bit of fun with her best friend. She was class president and used her presidential responsibilities for evil. That morning, as she made the daily announcements, she thought it'd be appropriate to congratulate Tanner on "finally becoming a man."

He learned that Tanner and Andy had known each other for as long as possible and had been friends even longer. When their mothers were pregnant they would press their stomachs together and every time they did this little Andy would push her sister out of the way and kick Tanner so hard that Mrs. Daniels would have to step away from the other woman just to get Andy to stop. After that their father's used to bring both of them on their errands everyday so that the tots would make fast friends. They were considered to be brother and sister by the entire town, despite their different parentage, and they were also considered the towns biggest trouble makers.

Overall it seemed to Alex like they had the perfect childhood; the exact opposite of what his had been. They got dirty. They tricked each other into eating worms. They challenged each other at almost anything competitive and were known to get into fist fights when one of them lost. Andy may have been small, but she was scrappy.

But despite the flood of unknown information concerning Tanner, Andy remained an enigma to Alex. It seemed as though, or at least according to Tanner, no one knew what she'd been up to since she'd graduated college, and Andy didn't seem too keen on telling them. She'd shared her childhood with everyone in town, skipped over to Auburn on a scholarship after graduation, and never came home for more than a week after that. Alex was pretty sure the Reno thing was a joke and Andy had begrudgingly confirmed that she was in Dallas prior to coming home, but that was the extent of his information. Oddly enough, as weird as this girl was in Alex's eyes, he needed to know more about her.

So far all he'd amassed was that she liked to whistle while she fished. Her eyes were three shades of green and one part brown. She didn't like to be called Andrea. She liked George Strait music. She told you more about her with the quirk of an eyebrow than she'd ever be willing to confess out loud. She was the reason for the simile "as cute as a button" when she scrunched her nose up. And based on her confidence and relaxed disposition, she had absolutely no problems when it came to men.

But there was something else about her that didn't seem right to Alex, something that just didn't fit. Maybe it was the way she kept her eyes off him at all costs, or that she seemed somewhat out of place out there in the middle of nowhere? Alex didn't know, but as he sat there and watched her fish, he knew there was something missing about Andy. He closed his eyes as he watched her pole bob up and down. He was so relaxed, and she was so pretty… and it was so quiet out there…

Before he knew it Alex had drifted into a sleep similar to the one he'd watched Hank drift into. The night was so soft and the day had been so long and thoughts of Andy Holly made him feel so relaxed. Andy Holly… what was it about her? ...His conscience graced him with dreams that made him smile in his sleep

Andy and Tanner watched as Alex twitched a smile in his sleep. "Aw look Tanner. Alex is having a happy dream," Andy cooed in a falsely childish voice.

Tanner shot her an exasperated look and pulled his pole from the water one last time with a small trout wiggling on the end. "Don't make fun of him," he warned Andy as he pulled the pair of pliers he'd knicked from his father's tackle box earlier that day and cut the hook out of the fish's mouth then tossed him back.

"Make fun of him? Why would I do that?" Her voice was now falsely innocent and Tanner kept his beady look pointed at her.

"Don't kid around with me. Alex is a good guy, Andy. The kind of guy you could chew up and spit out."

Andy snorted. Her voice wasn't nearly as accented as it had been all day. "Oh right, a _real_ great guy."

"Sarcasm is not fetching on you. It's scary." Tanner was wrapping his fishing line around the pole and he grabbed Alex's to do the same as soon as he'd finished his own.

"That's just because you know what I'm capable of," she replied with a wicked gleam as she picked up the two fish they'd decided to take back to the hole to show Hank.

Tanner shook his head and prodded his best friend, trying to wake him. But Alex wasn't too keen on the idea of waking up, for deep within Alex Crink's dream he'd finally figured out exactly what Andy Holly was missing and in his dream he pulled her closer.

* * *

"Snezzozo," Hank muttered in his sleep and Andy giggled. Alex rubbed his eyes and watched Tanner prod Hank again. It felt like they'd been doing this for an hour and yet Hank still wasn't stirring. 

Andy smiled and pushed Tanner away. "Lemme try," she whispered and nudged him out of the way. She bent down close to Hank's ear and, in a perfect imitation of Mrs. Daniels, hollered loudly in Hank's ear. "Hank! You bes' be gettin' up before I come down there and give you the beatin' of your life!"

"Yes ma'am," Hank grumbled sitting up abruptly and pretending he'd never been asleep. He opened his eyes to Andy and Tanner's raucous laughter and looked around. "I cudda sworn I heard the Misses." He scowled at Andy and grabbed his fishing pole, whacking her lightly across the shins.

"Ow," she whimpered, jumping around on one leg and holding her other shin.

"Serves you right," Hank muttered darkly as he stood and picked up his tackle box.

"Uncle Hank! You know I bruise like a cantaloupe," Andy whined playfully.

Hank ignored her and turned wide eyed to his son who was holding up two gorgeous, green bass. "You catch them tonight?" he asked in awe as he beheld their fine catch.

Tanner nodded and grinned. "Yep. Right here in this hole," he replied with a smile. Alex, yet again, didn't know what to make of the situation as Andy examined her nails with a newly heightened interest. These sure were some interesting people…

"They're beautiful." Hank hadn't even noticed the reactions of his younger companions; he was still staring at the fish in awe. "You two always catch the best fish 'round here. I don't know how you do it."

Andy set off toward the road again after she shot a quick wink over her shoulder to Alex. "You'll get one someday, Pop," Tanner replied to his father's ramblings with a grin and set off after Andy.

Hank looked around the clearing and peered into the lake. "I just don't get it," he muttered in confusion then looked up again. He clapped Alex on the back and smiled reassuringly. "It don' matter anyway," he said to Alex. "Like I said it's the chase, not the catch, son, that makes it worthwhile. I'll be right out here again tomorrow, and that's all I know for sure."

* * *

_I for surely know that I would very much like a few reviews. _

_Happy Thursday! I've been dying to post this for a very long time now and I finally get to put it up. I'm shooting for an update every Thursday, but I only have one more written and I'll hopefully get one more chappie done this week and that should keep me up for two weeks while I endure my post-Potter depression. So I'm figuring that as long as Harry has a happy ending I should be able to keep up with the every Thursday rule. _

_Do you like Andy? She's kind of brash, I know. Ok wait... I need to stop vocalizing my character analysis. This is stuff you should be able to figure out alone. You guys are smart, you get it. Just know that everything about Andy has a purpose. Even the lack of information about Andy has a purpose._

_I'm clicking my tongue. As you can see this story isn't going to rigidly uphold a P&P line. I vary off the charts a lot (in all my stories), but what you have to wonder is weather or not I've made Andy a Holly or a Lizzy. Trust me that's crucial._

_Ok. Do you love me, or hate me? ... I expecta review either way. Comfort me in my time of Potter-need._

_P.S. Anyone really bored and want to be my Beta? The grammer bothers me and I read it a thousand times and it's perfect in my head, but my head doesn't necessarily pick up what's written. So... volunteers?_


	4. Standing Outside the Fire

_For those of you that have never seen this music video, watch it (Even though I use in a completely different context). I cried for like ten minutes. Just look it up on YouTube and find a box of tissues._

_... Oh and Happy Thursday!_

* * *

_**Love to the Tune of a Country Song**_

"We call them cool  
Those hearts that have no scars to show  
The ones that never do let go  
And risk the tables being turned  
We call them fools  
Who have to dance within the flame  
Who chance the sorrow and the shame  
That always comes with getting burned  
But you've got to be tough when consumed by desire  
'Cause it's not enough just to stand outside the fire

"We call them strong  
Those who can face this world alone  
Who seem to get by on their own  
Those who will never take the fall  
We call them weak  
Who are unable to resist  
The slightest chance love might exist  
And for that forsake it all  
They're so hell-bent on giving, walking a wire  
Convinced it's not living if you stand outside the fire"

-Garth Brooks;

* * *

Once again the boy found himself so in love with the girl. In his mind he started referring to the girl as _his_ girl, but silly boys should know that girls like that belong to no one. But no one had ever told this silly boy about that, so he was left to fend for himself.

If only they had…

* * *

"So what's it like in Hicksville, USA?"

"Oh enthralling," Alex drawled sarcastically over the phone almost two days after his first night. Pamela Crink was Alex's baby sister. His _only_ sister. Well technically she was his half-sister, but Alex had spent thirteen years of his life as an only child and if a half-sister was all he got, Alex wasn't going to complain. So he'd deleted the term "half" from their relationship and made "Pammie" his whole-sister.

"Sounds great. How on earth are you still surviving?" she asked. Pamela was fifteen years old as of last month. It was hard for Alex to cope with his baby sister developing characteristics such as sarcasm and breasts. He knew what those things meant; they meant that pesky little boys would be soon to follow everywhere she went. Alex commonly left hints of advice on these topics, but Pamela had long since ignored these little tid-bits.

"It's not _that_ bad. Tanner's a bit different down here, but the people aren't completely horrible." That was a lie. Alex considered everyone he'd met thus far to be absolutely terrible, outside of Claire and his Andy.

"Tell me more," she commanded in a voice that left no questions for Alex.

Alex fiddled with the wood on the Daniels's porch, where he'd sought refuge from the mindless wonderings of Stella and was confined to the only spot in this blasted town with cell phone signal. "Hmm, well there's Stella, -remember her? Tanner's obnoxious sister?- she's taken to inviting me down to the country club. Apparently she's the assistant to the woman that runs their local cotillion. Damn woman keeps inviting me to come meet 'her precious Debs.'"

Pam laughed appropriately into the phone. "Oh God. I remember her. She's the one with the smudged eyeliner. Please marry her, Al, so I can make fun of you for the rest of my life. Tell me more."

Alex rolled his eyes, wishing that his sister could see him through the phone. "What else do you want to know?" Alex knew exactly what she wanted; she wanted tales of the other occupants of Odd-Ville. Alex would have given them to her, but Andy and Claire Holly had just pulled into the Daniels's driveway and jumped out of a beat-up '88 Honda. He was conflicted. Part of him wanted them to leave so he could fill Pamela in on everything regarding his Andy, but the other part was bounding in joy at the prospect of another afternoon with the vivacious brunette.

"Hey Alex!" Claire said with a warm welcoming smile as the two girls climbed the three steps up onto the porch.

"Hey," he muttered to them and heard Pamela squeal on her end of the phone.

"Who's that?" she asked quickly. "Is that Stella? Did she hear you talking about her?" Alex had the feeling Pamela had been watching too many Soap Operas. Things that dramatic hardly ever happened in real life.

"No Pammie. It's Claire and Andy," he said into the phone as the girls walked by him. Andy stopped immediately upon hearing what Alex had said. She turned back around, her attention fully caught, and sat on the step beside Alex with a mystical smile. Alex tried not to show discomfort at her proximity, but was secretly itching for her to a move a bit closer.

"Oooh. Who are Claire and Andy?" Pamela was asking loudly and suggestively over the phone. She was very excited to catch this little piece of information, and quickly prodded for more. Andy smiled wider. She'd obviously been able to hear Pamela's question.

Alex cast his eyes to Andy several times, who just remained right there beside him with that eerie smile. "Er, Pammie can I call you back?"

"No!" Pamela shouted quickly, but it was too late, her brother had hung up on her.

Alex held the phone awkwardly as he waited for Andy to speak. "So," she finally drawled after blinking at him for several minutes, "who _are_ Claire and Andy?"

Alex was confused for a second. "Um, they're two sisters."

Andy looked at him a bit disappointed. "That's it? That's all you got? How about somethin' along the lines of, Claire is a gorgeous freak that should probably get the hell out of this town before it eats her soul and Andy is an obnoxious odd-ball that should probably have herself committed." Alex just blinked at her in reply. "Oh come on, Alex! I know you have some sort of opinion about us. I mean you obviously did Saturday, or did you forget already?"

Alex coughed and scooted farther away from her, against his instincts, on the step they were both sitting on, but didn't say a thing. He had plenty of thoughts about her, but didn't think any of them were appropriate enough to be said out loud.

"Fine then. If you won't express your opinions, I'll give you mine. I think you're a bit misguided. You look at this town from completely the wrong angle. You're the type of person that spends your whole life waiting for things to happen to you instead of noticing all the amazing things happening all around you. You wouldn't know an adventure if it hit you over the head and, worst of all, you've convinced yourself that you don't need one."

"Maybe I don't." After having initially gotten over the shock of meeting Andy that first day, Alex had found that he was quite capable of keeping up with her. His relationship with Kim had given him the confidence and quick-wit he'd required to hold his ground. He found he could challenge her just as readily as she could.

Andy scoffed at him. "No, people like Claire don't need adventures. People like you only think they don't."

"And how would _you_ know?"

"I can tell, because you hesitate. You have absolutely no clue about your life." Andy smiled at him. She looked as though she'd just given him the winning lottery numbers and stood. "I've met a thousand men like you, Alex. I think I'd know." Before he could manage another sentence she was inside the house and he was, once again, alone on the porch. For some reason, he no longer wished he was.

Andy was so wrong. Alex loved his life! He had a great job. He had no domineering boss telling him what to do. He no longer had a commanding girlfriend controlling his life. He had money and no worries. Life was good. What was she talking about? An adventure? If anything Andy Holly needed less adventure. Who was he to allow some flighty girl to tell him his life wasn't good enough. Alex didn't need to be analyzed by Andy Holly.

With a pit in his stomach, Alex Crink reassured himself. _You love your life_, he mumbled inside his head then stood to go inside and avoid the impenetrable voices that told him otherwise.

* * *

"Ah, I love the scenic views of downtown Selma," Andy whispered dreamily as she sniffed in the afternoon air and smiled whimsically. "Innit just the most beautiful place in the world?" she asked as she clasped Tanner's arm while they strolled down Broad Street.

Tanner shook her off. "Your sarcasm is lethal. One day you'll kill a man with it."

Andy quirked her eyebrows and smiled wickedly, twiddling her fingers evilly. "Let's hope."

"Andy," Claire piped in. "Torturing men is not a worthy pastime."

"Who says I torture them?" she asked defensively. "They torture themselves, with their damn expectations. The only man I intentionally torture is Tanner, just because he gets so pissed off. Don't you Tanner-Wanner?" she asked in the type of voice most people use when speaking to dogs, and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"_Somebody's gonna give you a lesson in leavin'. Somebody's gonna give you back what you've been givin'. And I hope that I'm around to watch 'em knock you down. __It's like you to love 'em and leave 'em;__just like you loved me and left me. It's like you to do that sort of thing. Over and over again__…" _Claire sang under her breath while Tanner and Andy argued over where they should go for lunch. Alex, the closest to her, was the only one that heard her.

"Fine! We'll go to Jim's but I get to organize the activities for the night," Andy finally agreed.

"Deal," Tanner conceded readily and pushed open the door to Jim's with a twinkling little bell noise. Claire followed right after Tanner, but Andy remained motionless on the threshold. She stood there in the doorway for so long, with Alex trapped behind her, that eventually Tanner, who had been holding the door for Claire, let the door go and it smacked into her. The force blew her back out onto the street where she stared at Alex with panicked eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked sounding slightly worried. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Andy shook her head and with it shook off her panicked expression. "Much worse than a ghost. I just saw… an…" She hesitated and cast her eye up briefly to Alex's face so he caught a deafening flash of her transparent green eyes. "An ex," she finished pathetically.

"That's all?" he asked. That was a bit disappointing, the way she was carrying on you'd think she'd have just seen a man brandishing a chainsaw. "That's nothing to freak out about." Alex grabbed the door handle, but before he could push it open again, Andy leapt on his arm and pried it away from the door.

"That's not all!" she shouted, still holding his hand fiercely in case he tried to go in again. "This is not just any ex. This is my most recent ex, who just happens to be a clinging psychopath that's tracked me down, somehow, all the way from Texas." She had spoken quite vehemently, but Alex could hardly concentrate on anything but the pins and needles coursing through his arm.

"A clinging, psycho ex?" he asked numbly, processing her words slowly. "That's nothing. You should meet my ex." Alex made to grab the door again, but quickly realized Andy still held his hand in a death grip.

"You don't understand, Alex. Dylan's wound is still fresh. Who knows what he's expecting." Alex had never seen Andy so serious. For the first time, she was the one at a loss and he was the one basking in her distress. Alex kind of liked having the upper-hand on Andy. He felt like he was probably the first guy to have it.

Alex smiled wickedly. He didn't realize but it was the first time he'd smiled fully at Andy and she was a bit taken. Alex had a stunning smile that caught Andy so unawares that she'd loosened her grip on his hand enough for him to open the door and yank her into the small diner. "You're not scared of a little adventure, are you?" he asked softly, his lips so close to her ear that she could feel his breath on her skin, as he shoved her unwillingly further into the diner. Eventually he managed to maneuver her over to the table where Tanner and Claire were waiting for them.

"What took you guys so long?" Tanner asked as he handed an ashen-faced Andy a menu. Alex wasn't really paying attention. He was observing every occupant of the room hoping to discern which one was the psycho ex. Surely it wasn't that sixty year old man that looked like he'd either fallen asleep or silently died in that booth? Could it be the baseball capped guy sitting by the coffee bar with his back to them? Or maybe it was the younger guy wearing a shirt that said "Stupid don't even cover it" and staring right at their table. Alex quickly placed his bet on the "stupid" guy. He seemed a little too interested in the sight of Andy, if you asked him.

Claire smiled at her sister. "Bryan's lookin' at you, Andy" she said pointedly to her sister with one eyebrow raised and a suggestive smile.

Andy looked up from where she'd been attempting to hide her pale face. "Shh. Don't say my name," she hissed, trying to cover her face with her menu.

"Whatcha doin' Andy?" asked the waitress as she walked by holding a steaming pot of coffee. Did everyone in this town automatically know who Andy was?

Andy winced at the woman's loud tone. "Kara, please be quiet," she pleaded but it was too late. The man in the baseball cap had heard her voice and turned immediately at the sound.

"Andy?" he practically yelled across the diner. Alex was a bit surprised. He thought for sure it was the "stupid" guy. But baseball cap dude was hovering over their table in an instant. He pulled off his hat and smiled triumphantly. "I knew I'd find you here!" He was an attractive man, more so than Alex had expected. He had fierce dark eyes and a perfectly sculpted face. His body shape wasn't bad; Alex could tell the guy was one of those gym-member types.

"Hi Dylan," Andy said simply trying to mask her wince. Her southern accent was completely gone and she sounded as though someone was silently torturing her. "How did you find me here?"

Dylan shrugged and pulled a chair up to their table. "Oh it was easy. I just had to have a couple chats with your old manager down at Boons. Took me about an hour to finally get the name of this town out of him."

"Great," Andy growled through her clenched jaw, smiling falsely. "So much for confidential employee records," she muttered under her breath.

"Are you guys Andy's friends?" Dylan asked excitedly. "Andy never talks about anyone, but it's nice to meet you anyway. I'm Dylan."

Andy honestly looked as though she were about to shoot herself. "I'm Claire," Claire said brightly, her good manners getting the best of her as she shook Dylan's hand.

"Tanner," Tanner supplied also shaking the man's hand. "And that guy next to you is my friend Alex." Alex feebly lifted his hand in a wave, but he was a bit too preoccupied with Andy. If any more color drained from her face, Alex was pretty sure she'd faint from lack of blood flow.

"And _we're_ leaving," Andy said as soon as Alex dropped his hand. She quickly stood from the table. Alex jumped up beside her. This situation was even too awkward for him to find amusement in.

"But you just got here," Dylan said blankly as Tanner and Claire didn't even attempt to move. Andy mouthed a few swear words that Alex could distinguish before she turned back around to face Dylan once again.

"Yes, but I just remembered that we have to meet my sister in ten minutes. She'll be _very_ upset if we're late." She shot Claire and Tanner beady, pleading looks.

Claire was the only one of the two that jumped to her rescue. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot about Carolynn's. I'm really sorry Dylan, but we have to go. Don't we, _Tanner_?" she asked pointedly and Alex could tell that she was pinching him on the arm.

"Ow," he yelped the jumped to his feet quickly. "Yeah that's right," he eventually muttered begrudgingly as Claire pushed him hard to get him away from the table.

"But Sweetheart," Dylan pleaded, standing from the empty table "I traveled all this way to see you. Can't we just talk for five minutes? I really missed you," he pleaded, beginning to follow them as Andy hastily led them out of the diner.

"I believe the lady said she had to go," came the voice of the "stupid" man by the door, who stood and held out an arm to keep Dylan at bay. "I think it's best that you just let her go."

"Thanks Bryan," Andy sighed in relief as she finally crossed the threshold into the welcome sanctuary outside.

"It was real nice meeting you!" Claire finished with a wave before the entire party had made their escape. "What was that all about?" Claire asked her sister curiously. "Who is this Dylan guy?"

Andy sighed and rubbed her eyes in exhaustion. "Someone that obviously can't take a hint," she replied.

"Why'd we have to leave?" asked Tanner, who seemed very upset by this chain of events. "Jim's has the best food in town and I say we go back, Dylan or not."

"Dude, give her a break." Alex suddenly found himself sticking up for Andy. "If it were any of our exes there's no way you'd make us go back in there."

Tanner scoffed. "You've obviously never eaten at Jim's."

Alex replied with a doubtful, stern look. "So you'd go back in there if Kim was in there?" Suddenly, Tanner's knowing grin slipped away. "Or if Katie were in there, then would you still eat at Jim's?"

Tanner was now quite pale. "Oh God. Now I can't think about food at all. Good job, Alex. You've succeeded in making me nauseous."

Alex thudded a hunched over Tanner on the back. "It's what I'm here for, buddy. Now what are we up to?" he asked Claire.

Claire shrugged. "I suppose we could _actually_ go see Carolynn. You haven't gotten to meet her yet."

"And she'd love to fix us up a lunch." Andy was already setting off own the street toward where they'd parked earlier. She still hadn't reverted back to her southern accent and Alex was wondering where the heavy drawl had disappeared to. Maybe seeing Dylan had shocked it right out of her? "Knowing Carolynn, she's probably as bored as sin and will relish in the company."

* * *

"Carolynn!" the two sisters sang as they popped their heads through the door. "Are you home?" Andy finished as she pushed her way fully into the house while Claire politely waited for her baby sister's approval to enter.

"I'm comin'," a far-off voice replied. Seconds later a tiny little thing came rushing down the stairs. Alex was a bit shocked. He hadn't known what to expect of Carolynn. She was beautiful, like he'd posturized, but she was also a lot younger than he'd pictured. She was, quite obviously, still in her early twenties; her _very _early twenties, if not younger. She had dark brown hair, darker than Andy's, and a slightly pointy face. It came across quite nicely under first inspection but the more Alex dissected her look, the less he liked it.

It was obvious that Andy and Claire were natural beauties, but Carolynn had to work at it. She gasped as soon as she saw them and jumped into Tanner's arms. Tanner thought quickly enough to hold her up as she wrapped her legs around him. "Tanner!" she squealed. "I didn't know you were in town."

"Really? I've been here almost three days," Tanner said with a reluctant smile.

Carolynn growled and wiggled for Tanner to put her down. She punched each of her sister's on their arms. "He's been here three days and no one bothered to tell me?"

Andy punched Carolynn right back. "Er hello? I'm your sister here and I don't even get a hello?" Carolynn shot her a wry look and reluctantly obliged her.

Claire was merely rubbing her arm where Carolynn had punched her. She didn't say a thing, nor did she chastise her sister for her brutality.

Suddenly, Carolynn made a big showing of noticing Alex, but it was plainly obvious that she'd been interested in his presence from the moment she'd entered the room. "And _who_ is this?" she asked grabbing Alex's arm to pull him forward so she could look at him, but really she just was using the opportunity to grope his bicep. She liked what she saw and felt. Alex remembered Andy once telling him that he was more Carolynn's type and he now had to face the truth of that assessment. Carolynn seemed as though she'd never break her eyes off him. He felt uncomfortable; almost like he was back under the oppressive gaze of Stella.

"Where's your husband?" Andy asked bluntly as she plopped down inelegantly into one of Carolynn's kitchen chairs. Alex hastily moved out of Carolynn's vision and took the chair beside Andy.

Carolynn shrugged and bustled into her kitchen, automatically assuming the task of feeding the group. "Hell if I know. Probably working."

"Working hard or hardly working?" Andy asked as she fiddled with Carolynn's pig-shaped salt and pepper shakers. Alex looked around the room and noticed that the entire place was covered in pigs. There were ceramics on the windowsill, a pig fan cord hanging in the middle of the room, there were pig magnets on the fridge.

"Oh very funny Andy. You are the queen of wit," Carolynn drawled sarcastically as she sat a plate of spaghetti in the middle of the table. She tugged on her tiny little shorts and adjusted her bra straps before she took the seat across from Alex. "So Alex what brings you to town?"

Andy watched Alex's face transform with amusement. "Tanner brought me," he said and bowed his head. Andy found it very amusing the way Alex could be so shy with new people. Andy was the opposite, she was more outgoing with strangers; she loved when people knew absolutely nothing about her.

"They're lovers," Andy whispered loudly. Tanner shot her a derisive look and Alex's head shot up.

"Very funny, Andy," Claire sighed as she served Tanner a plate of spaghetti and then one for herself. "You keep makin' comments like that and I wouldn't be surprised if Tanner punched you."

"Tanner? Nah. I'm placing my bets on Alex," Andy said smiling as she took her turn to serve spaghetti. She, however, made sure she didn't serve Alex and didn't even bother to hand him the spoon when she was done. She dropped it back into the bowl and Alex had to pick out the spoon and wipe off the sauce. He did so without complaint, and Carolynn found this to be very admirable.

"Alex wouldn't hit you." Carolynn jumped to his defense. She stared at him dreamily for a second. "I've just met him and already I can tell that." She reached across the table and placed her hand over his. He found it a bit awkward the way she was ostentatiously hitting on him. He wanted desperately to pull his hand out from under hers. The whole situation was completely inappropriate.

"Carolynn let go of him," Andy ordered not even looking up from her food.

"What? You got claim?" Carolynn asked her sister with a dithering look as she pulled her hand away.

"No, but I think your _husband_ might have a bit of say in the matter," Andy replied staring at Carolynn with rude disbelief.

"Oh right. _Him."_ Carolynn looked so put out. Just a moment before she'd been a chipper little thing and now she seemed murderous. Alex guessed it was a rocky marriage.

"Carolynn," Claire warned. Neither Claire nor Tanner had been paying much attention to their conversation, as they were having a whispered dialogue of their own, but Claire seemed to have a sixth sense when her sisters said anything misguided.

Carolynn just rolled her eyes. She was obviously the obstinate, youngest child. She was a tempestuous one. She wanted what she wanted and she wanted it right away. Right now she wanted Alex and made perfectly sure he knew it as she bit her lip with a seductive smile and burned her eyes into his purposely diverted gaze. She may have been married, but did that mean she was committed? Was she not even allowed to look anymore? Especially while looking at the picturesque form of Alex Crink, all thoughts of her husband were miles away.

* * *

Kill the Moonlight, Stab the Sun

Monday, March 7

Mood: Panicked

Music: Red Ragtop; Tim McGraw

Code red people! That's right, we have an ex in town. A psycho ex that has tracked me down all the way from Dallas. It's Dylan guys; painfully, woefully, naïve, little Dylan. The boy cannot take a hint. He's here and I have no clue why or how. Normally when a girl leaves without a goodbye, doesn't that mean it's over? Why do the other's get it and yet Dylan does not. I mean the boy wasn't bright, but he wasn't stupid…

On top of that I have to put up with Claire's mumblings almost constantly about what she should do about Tanner. I mean seriously Claire, the boy's probably only in town for a week, at most; either make a move or move on. It's been eight years for Christ's sake! You don't see me still wallowing over any guy after eight years. In fact you don't see me wallowing period. Not even for eight seconds. I guess that's just another difference in the Holly twins.

We have another problem on top of that. This friend of Tanner's is a pain in my side. One minute he's a bumbling, monosyllabic idiot and the next he's turning my words around on me and whispering in my ear. What is that? If he were actually to pull his act together I might be in a bit of danger. He's got an alarming smile. It's a knee-melting smile. Good thing the boy never smiles… I'm sensing danger on the horizon, this proves to be promising. Danger is synonymous with fun.

Oh, on a different front, I'm a bit worried about Carolynn. You don't think she'd honestly consider having an affair, do you? Ben is a great and immensely loyal guy. She's incredibly lucky to have him, but Carolynn only ever wants what she doesn't have. Doesn't she know that the grass is actually brown and un-watered on the other side? This is troubling. She wouldn't actually do anything, though. She's not that dumb.

God, both my sister's are hopeless. It's a good thing I'm around to uphold the family name.

Maybe it's time we gassed up Tucker, he's aching for the road. But mom would kill me if I split before Tanner's big party. Mauling by mother; or obnoxious, stuffy party… Tricky one.

Coming to a town near you,

Andy Holly

* * *

"I'm kind of sorry you had to sit through that Alex," Claire mumbled as they finally escaped Carolynn's house. "She gets a bit cooped up sometimes. We don't get many new people around here."

"Don't apologize," Andy snapped as she jumped into the back seat of Tanner's rental. "Carolynn is how she is. No one should ever have to apologize for that."

Alex stared at her for a second as he too climbed into the back seat so Claire wouldn't have to. "So what, you think people can be inexcusably inappropriate and just walk away Scott-free?"

Andy raised her eyebrows in a way that said "why not?" "I just think that people are how they are and there's no changing that and no reason for apologizing for it either. Carolynn's a freak, for sure, but so are you."

"I'm a freak?" Alex asked pointing a finger at himself as if she would be addressing someone else with such an accusation. "That's the second uncalled for judgment you've made about me today, Andy. Is this something I'm going to have to put up with?"

Andy held up her hands close to her body and shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. And I'm not apologizing for it."

"Well then I'm not apologizing to you," he replied bitterly.

"Like I'd ever expect one from a person like you, Alex." She wasn't even bothering to look at him anymore. She had her attention focused on the road.

"What's that mean? A person 'like me?' Sounds like another snap-judgment."

"Maybe it was, Frat-boy" she finished simply and Alex was a bit unsettled by her abrupt acquiescence. There was obviously more she wanted to say, but for some reason she bit her tongue and pressed her forehead against the window.

"Frat-boy" he hated the mere idea of it. Alex was the complete opposite of a Frat-boy. He'd grown up secluded from anything even related to a social life and watched as the local jocks exerted their powers over weaker kids like him. He'd been all alone growing up. His father hadn't had the time for him, or maybe he just didn't want to make any, and his mother had long since passed away. When he was twelve, he was long past that crucial age where interaction was required for development and Alex was brutally handicapped by his lack of it. He barely understood the world, yet alone the people in it.

When he was twelve his father suddenly got remarried to a warm woman named Anna. She was much younger than Alex's father and still maintained the bubbly youth of her early thirties while Mr. Crink rattled on past fifty. Alex dearly loved Anna and quickly took to her like the mother he'd never had. She was beautiful and pleasing, the kind of woman that would make sure you were happy even at her own detriment. She protected Alex through high school and maintained his father's ignorance through Alex's social obscurity. She was a doll, but far too nice for the constructive criticism Alex needed to survive in the real world.

By the time it came to go to college Alex decided it was time to take a long hard look in the mirror. He stared at himself, quite literally, and determined it was time for a change. He plucked his eyebrows with Anna's tweezers. He begged Anna to convince his father to let him switch to contacts. He invested in a 42 oz bottle of hair gel and cut back his ratty locks, shaping them to a sharp point that cleared the view into his steel blue eyes. And finally he vowed that, no matter what, he would never become one of those mocking apes that had teased him his entire life. He would never let life make him hard, like it'd done to his father. He vowed to be honest and caring, to make sure he never intentionally hurt anyone. Alex promised, with all his heart, that he would never again allow life to pass him by.

By his second month of college he'd made his first permanent friend ever, Tanner. Alex learned so much about the world from Tanner. He learned how to carry himself, to exude confidence. He learned that what happens today hardly ever matters tomorrow. He learned how to use his strengths to his benefit. What he never learned, sadly, was what to do with a girl like Andy or a girl like Kim. He was immediately attracted to strong-spirited women. Kim was alluring in her confidence and her decisive abilities. Kim was a bit like Carolynn, she knew what she wanted and she wanted it now.

But Andy was almost a creature of mythological worth. She was quirky; Alex loved that. She was opinionated; a necessary quality in a strong woman. She was a complete enigma to him. In fact she was a riddle wrapped in an enigma that commonly liked to laugh at his expense. When she said no, it didn't always mean no. When she thought no one was looking, her face was clouded over and she was a million miles away. She had so many secrets, like what was up with that Dylan guy? She seemed to make up her mind rather fast, but was still so determined to avoid any type of decision. She was out there looking for something, but had absolutely no clue what. She wasn't the kind of girl to wait around and yet she was waiting for an answer to smack her over the head. The whole ordeal sent Alex's mind whirling.

Why couldn't he figure her out?

Later that night, he decided maybe it was time to ask Tanner. Who knew her better than her surrogate brother?

"You want to know about Andy?" Tanner asked right back as Alex posed his question during a commercial break. Tanner obviously saw this to be of more importance or complexity than Alex had first assessed and even saw fit to turn off the TV. "Why are you asking?"

Alex shrugged. "I'm just a bit baffled. One minute she seems perfectly friendly and the next she's calling me a Frat-boy."

Tanner rubbed his head in thought. "Yeah I've noticed that a bit too. She seems quite determined to hate you."

"Then why is she sometimes perfectly normal?"

"Maybe she can't help it. Andy's a very instinctual person, all the Holly's are. She acts on her whims. If one minute she feels like being a bitch, she'll do it. Then the next thing you know she'll be kissing you in a dark closet."

"You've kissed Andy in a dark closet?" Alex asked with his eyebrows furrowed and his fists instinctively clenched.

"God no. That'd be like kissing Stella. That was the punishment of poor Bryan. You met him today at the diner, remember?"

"The dude that got rid of Dylan?"

"Yeah that's Bryan. He liked Andy for years and she would never give in to him. Then one day, out of the blue, she says, 'Bryan, I think I should give you a shot.' They dated for two weeks. It was the longest relationship Andy had in high school and the most mystifying."

"Two weeks? That was her record?"

Tanner nodded. "She wasn't one to fuck around with guys. When she got bored she was out of there."

"What about all the secrets?" Alex asked. It wasn't that he was overly nosey, but this insight into an Andy was a bit like trying to figure out a jigsaw puzzle. Alex wouldn't stop until he had the puzzle completed.

"Oh Andy's always done that. She's has secret hideouts all over town. She just likes to get away sometimes. Andy has so much going through her mind that she has to take days off to sort through her own thoughts. I think the only person that really knows anything about Andy is Tucker."

"Tucker?"

"Andy's car. Her father gave it to her when she was fourteen and promised to have it running by the time she was sixteen. He had a heart attack before he got very far and died. She fixed up Tuck herself and gave it her dad's middle name as a kind of tribute. In a weird way, Tucker is like a piece of her father. She tells him things she'd never tell a soul." Tanner looked somewhat saddened by this story. Maybe Mr. Holly held a bit of a soft spot in Tanner's heart as well. You can't be that close to a family and not consider their parents a part of your family as well. "That was a rough time for Andy. She'd been her father's girl and suddenly she wasn't anymore. Hard to get over a thing like that."

Alex stared at the blank TV screen as if it were playing "The Andy Holly Story." He studied the screen. He could just picture a younger Andy driving herself out of society. It was weird that in Andy's life her father's death had been earth-shattering. For Alex, when his father died, it almost seemed like a relief. The difference weighed heavily on Alex's mind.

"You shouldn't think about her too much," Tanner said suddenly pulling Alex from his thoughts. Tanner watched his best friend with a warning curiosity that bordered on pity. "She's a wild thing, Alex. She doesn't stop to breathe or consider the consequences of her actions. If you fall for her, she'll walk away, or better yet, she'll run as fast as she can. She doesn't do long term. She wants everything, but refuses to take it with her when she goes. She floats around the world without a care or even thoughts of what normal people consider important. I love her like a sister, but even with me she doesn't consider my feelings. In a moment she's gone. A taste; that's all you get and then it's over."

* * *

_There are lots of new characters in this chapter. There's Pammie, she's a great character and I can't wait until I really get to show her to you guys. We briefly meet Bryan, who is very important later. We meet Dylan again. He's a lost little puppy. We even have a bit of Anna. And finally we meet Carolynn. I kind of love Carolynn, in a sick way. She's so twisted and hopeless. She understands almost nothing about the world because she's been trapped in this little town her entire life with someone waiting on her at every juncture of her life. She's never had to stand alone. She's never had to assert her independence and so Carolynn kind of takes her life for granted. This is rather sad to me and to Andy. She kind of pities her sister because she thinks that Carolynn dug herself a hole and now she has to live in it._

_Damn. I'm character analyzing again. Hmm. Bad Casey!_

_Just review so I can feel the urge to write again. My brain is all mushy. And I want so badly to work on my Emma fic. Humph. I can't believe Harry is over…_

_My childhood is over, but it turns out being an adult sucks. These days, I wish I were six again. I loved Harry guys, but it weird that I'm not seven years old again curled up on a couch and reading a book that weighed more than me._

_Oh. In case you were wondering. The song Claire sings is called "Lesson in Leaving" by Jo Dee Messina (my favorite female country singer… Think otherwise? I don't care!). It's worth a listen. And did anyone cry when they watched the Garth Brooks video? Or am I the only one… ? … Awkward…_


	5. Wrapped

_Thursdays my friends… Thursdays. _

* * *

_**Love to the Tune of a Country Song**_

"I didn't have to turn my head whenever you walked in  
The only one to let these chills roll down my skin  
My heart beats faster, I hear your name  
I feel my confidence slippin' away

"I thought I was doin' fine  
'Bout to get you off my mind  
I see your face and then I'm  
Wrapped around your pretty little finger again

"It feels like ages since you laid down in my arms  
I see no good reason but still I'm tangled in your charms  
My God, you're smilin' and you catch my eye  
My heart is pounding deep inside

"I thought I was doin' fine  
'Bout to get you off my mind  
I see your face and then I'm  
Wrapped around your pretty little finger again"

-George Strait; _"Wrapped"_

* * *

The boy was quickly falling down a pit without even realizing it. Soon he would be trapped at the bottom, wishing and hoping that the girl would come and save him. But the girl was preoccupied with other things, namely a horrible Frog Prince that was trying to force her to marry him. The girl didn't think that the Frog Prince would make her happy in life so she eventually bucked up the courage to tell the Frog Prince what she thought of him. But this isn't the tale of our Frog Prince; this is the story of a boy who was quickly falling in love with a girl. 

But, let's be honest, it's not as if the girl asked him to fall for her…

* * *

Alex practically had his face pressed against the glass. He glanced down momentarily to check his watch before his face was glued right back onto the window again. _Any moment now…_

"Alex?" Tanner asked warily. "What are you doing?"

Alex hastily hushed his best friend without removing his face from the glass. _Come on! It was time. Where was she?_

"Alex? Should I be worried about you?" Tanner crossed the dining room to get closer to his friend and at that exact moment she made her appearance. Andy Holly came jogging across the road right in front of the Daniels' house in a skimpy jog-bra and a rolled up pair of shorts. "Oh God, Alex! Please say you weren't waiting for her."

Alex jumped away from the window and rounded on his best friend. "I wasn't waiting!"

"So you just happened to notice that Andy Holly makes a regular run across town every morning and seems to pass our window at exactly the same time everyday?" Tanner was far too amused, and enlightened, by the circumstances for Alex's liking. Alex considered punching him, but only for a moment. Tanner rolled his eyes, not noticing Alex's clenched hands, and shook his head as if he were staring into the eyes of a lost cause. "You know what? I think we've seen enough of the girls lately. How about you and I do a bit of golfing?"

Alex's sudden, inexplicable anger was quickly forgotten. "Golfing?"

"Yeah, except," Tanner smiled wickedly, "golf is really only fun if you're drunk."

Alex contemplated the idea. "Yeah, that sounds good."

* * *

Alex and Tanner pulled into the Selma Country Club already buzzing with the fuzzy outline of a few beers. They managed to finagle a couple of extra clubs, a basket of balls, and a golf cart away from the sales boy without slurring before they filled up their cart with their Piggly-Wiggly bought stock of beer, and were on the way out to begin their journey when they were accosted by two people Alex had heard much about, but hardly had the chance to meet. 

The first was a familiar face with a vaguely familiar name: Bryan. Bryan had abandoned his "Stupid don't even cover it" t-shirt for a much more elegant one that read "Intercourse, PN. We'll get you good and satisfied," but Alex was already buzzed enough to appreciate the humor in such a shirt. He smiled at Bryan and made an ambiguous introduction.

The second was a very familiar name. "Alex this is Carolynn's husband- Ben," Tanner presented. Ben was taller than Alex had expected. He was certainly attractive if not slightly gangly. He smiled warmly and wore a hat to protect his surprisingly pale face. This was clearly the type of man that spent his life cooped up in a tiny little office that drained the life right out of him. He was smiling, but he still seemed worn.

"Oh, you're Ben from down the lane." Alex jumped in recognition and shook the man's steady hand with a baffling smile. This was Ben? This was the man Carolynn had married? Not that Alex knew anything about Carolynn, but this guy seemed far too… far too _nice_ for Carolynn.

"I managed to get Ben to skive off work for the day; so we thought we'd do a bit of golfing," Bryan was explaining to Tanner who nodded in agreement. "I don't think his wife would be too happy if she knew. Our little secret though, right?"

All three men nodded in agreement, including Ben, who seemed a bit dazed.

"Don't worry about us. We're having a Holly-free day," Tanner said proudly pulling out a couple of beers and passing them to each of the men. "Wanna join up?"

"A Holly-free day? Good luck with that," Ben snorted. "They're impossible to avoid."

"Yeah, we're in if you cut us into that beer stock," Bryan concluded ignoring the comment of poor Ben.

The four men were on the bottom nine by the time Alex had finally decided that he liked the addition these two men made to their small party. Ben was a bit out of sorts, constantly checking his watch as if he would be caught any moment, but he told some of the greatest stories about Tanner; nothing as embarrassing as Andy's, but testament enough to Tanner's happy childhood. Bryan had tales of his own, having spent four years of his life with the serious belief that he would be a NASCAR driver only to find that you actually had to have a license and be able to drive for such a profession.

"So how are you enjoying the historic town of Selma?" Ben asked, loosening up now that he'd managed to feed enough alcohol into his bloodstream.

"Oh just great. I especially enjoyed the Civil War battlefield tribute to General Nathan Bedford Forrest's last stand," Alex replied sarcastically as Tanner smacked a rogue ball off into the woods and set off to find it and Bryan laughed at Tanner's misfortune.

"You even know who General Nathan Bedford Forrest is?" Bryan asked as he regained his standing.

"Nope."

Ben shrugged. "Well surely you must like something about Selma?"

"Or someone," Bryan interjected. "You been spendin' a lot of time with the Holly sisters? Got a favorite yet?" he asked suggestively.

Alex shrugged and awkwardly avoided the question. "I… I don't really know."

"He's an Andy guy. I can tell," Ben commented as he took to shaking his nine-iron up and down as if performing the rubber pencil trick.

"Everyone's an Andy guy." Bryan grabbed Ben's club to make him stop and threw it onto the ground. "No matter what they say, I've never met a guy that didn't have a thing for Andy."

"You included?" Alex asked hoping to get the conversation off him.

"Me? Of course. That's no secret," Bryan replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"Me too… when we were younger," Ben also agreed as he picked up his club and shoved it into his pack with the rest of them. "But even now, I have to keep her at arms length."

"But you're married to her sister," Alex pointed out.

Ben blanched. "I know that, and I don't regret it either."

"What my decidedly nervous friend is trying to say is that: Andy comes first. She's the one that draws you in and when you realize that she's never going to go for you, if you're lucky, you settle for a sister. How do you think Tanner ended up with Claire?"

Alex's shock at this little tid-bit was evident. "You mean Tanner and Andy…"

"Never happened," Ben interjected. "And Tanner will never admit to it."

"But tha' don' mean Tanner didn't _want_ it to happen. Loved her until he was sixteen years old and realized it was impossible; and so, the legacy of Claire and Tanner began." Bryan was kind of a gossip queen when it came down to it. He'd been stuck in Selma with fallen dreams and so he distracted himself with tales and woes of the other inhabitants of this dead-end town, taking particular cares with the misfortunes of the Holly girls.

"Why Andy?"

"Oh c'mon Alex! You honestly sayin' you notice any other girl when Andy's in the room?" Bryan asked in disbelief. "I mean Claire is beautiful and delicate, but there are plenty of other 'Claire's in the world. Claire don't beat a guy at Halo. I mean Tanner really likes her and all, but if he'd had the choice I assure you it would be Andy."

"She's too cool, Alex. She's self assured and she has those eyes. I know you noticed the eyes." Ben had drifted into a dream-like state. He didn't seem at all aware that he was speaking out loud; in fact, he hardly seemed aware that he was even surrounded by other men.

Bryan snapped his fingers in front of Ben's face and Ben resurfaced to reality with a blush. "The eyes are great, it's true. And she fixes cars better than anyone in town. She smiles and laughs and the whole world just kind of disappears. Nothin' else matters when she laughs. She'll beat your ass up in a moment and laugh about it with you later. She's witty and goofy and-"

"And unattainable." Tanner was back, ball in hand, and scowling slightly at Bryan and booming over their conversation. "What happened to a Holly-free day?" he asked seeming seriously angered.

Bryan continued as if Tanner hadn't interrupted. "When Andy skipped town every man's heart broke. She was our dream girl. We didn't know why she hadn't stayed."

"It was horrible," Ben stated morosely as if his soul had suddenly fled his body and left only a depressed shell of a man.

"Lots of guys left. Tanner and I included. Selma wasn't the same without Andy." Bryan too seemed as though the mere remembrance of this dug a hole in his heart. "Hell, Ben here went and got engaged to Tanner's sister, Stella."

"Stella?" Alex asked suddenly confused. He could have sworn Ben had married Carolynn.

"It's a long story," Ben supplied holding up his hands to ward off Alex's questions.

Suddenly Bryan smiled again and smacked his hand against Alex's back just as Tanner normally did. "It doesn't matter now. Eventually, most guys came back, except those that found something different. And every now and then Andy wanders back into town to the joy of its compatriots. We all still think that we'll get her to stay one day."

"But to no avail," Ben added sadly. "Not that I care anymore," he tacked on hastily.

"She'll never stay," Tanner added with a hard bitterness behind his tone. "It's stupid to even think it. Didn't you guys meet Dylan? Further proof that Andy will never change."

"Dylan?" Alex asked, his mind wheeling with all this information.

Tanner rolled his eyes in impatience. "The guy from Jim's. Claire said he's even showed up at their house. Says he just keeps asking for Andy. She figures he's a victim in the Andy Web."

"Don't call it a web; you make her sound like a spider," Ben protested as he topped off his beer and grabbed another. Tanner just shrugged.

Bryan finally stepped up, after they'd lingered on that one hole for over fifteen minutes, and set up his ball. "That's an appropriate way to describe her, I think. A spider." He lined up his swing and whacked that ball as far as he possibly could, watching as it sailed off into oblivion. He stepped back in line with the other three men. "They kill their mates, you know."

* * *

Kill the Moonlight, Stab the Sun 

Wednesday, March 9

Mood: Chill

Music: Friends in Low Places; Garth Brooks

Hello people that exist merely in my head. I'm bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored … I could continue all day, but then I'd be even more bored. And stir crazy. I'm bored and stir crazy and being stalked by a pesky ex _and_ being coerced into staying here by my mother and sister who are so convinced of my imminent departure that they're bribing me to stay. On the plus side, they let me pick the theme for Tanner's party. George Strait themed, what else?

Why does Tanner get a party for coming back into town? Claire says it's because Tanner may actually stay long enough for it to be called a "stay" rather than just "passing through" like it is with me. Excuse me? A week is a very long time to be in this town. I swear to you time crawls in this place. I'm so bored. How do people stand it?!

Anyway, the Dylan saga continues. He showed up yesterday while I was running and spent an entire thirty minutes chatting with my mother about why I'd make the perfect wife. WIFE! The words "Andy" and "wife" shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence. It shouldn't be physically possible. People should spontaneously combust if they even think both those words within the span of five minutes.

If I stay here much longer, with Dylan lurking about, my mother may take apart my car, drug me up, and force me to marry Dylan. She says she can never live in peace until all her daughters are married. I pointed out that Claire isn't married and she just said that Tanner would probably fix that. The woman is insane! Even if we were all married, how would that help her "live in peace?" Doesn't she know that 90 of the chaos around her is stuff she makes up to avoid the fact that she's unbelievably bored?

Number one on my list of fears: To become my mother.

Coming to a town near you,

Andy Holly

* * *

It was about six hours later when the four men's beer-spree was still going strong, but had moved from the golf course to Klein's, the local bar. Eventually, Ben had switched to soda to avoid a drunken confrontation with his wife. Apparently taking care of her drunken husband wasn't one of Carolynn Holly's favorite pastimes. 

"She's so damn domineering. I love Caro, trust me, and I thank God I married her everyday; especially considering the alternative, but I miss my freedom. I hate my job, but I can't quit because who would buy groceries and little fucking ceramic pigs for the kitchen?" Ben, despite the drink switch, was still quite hammered. He was slurring and rambling as if he'd come off a six-week binge rather than a six hour one, and his loose lips had rambled on for the last forty-five minutes about life with "Caro." Bryan had confessed, while Ben was in the bathroom, that this scene had become a weekly practice. "Sometimes I just forget what it was about her that made me fall in love the first time around. Sometimes I just wish I could have the cool Carolynn back that would flirt with me like crazy and whose face would light up when she saw me. She doesn't light up anymore. I gave up everything for her and she won't even light up."

"Maybe she's just as unsettled as you?" Alex asked, feebly trying to reassure the distressed man. In truth he just wanted to shut Ben up for a little bit. Men weren't supposed to talk that much or that quickly. It was giving Alex a headache.

It was to no avail. Alex's suggestion had merely set Ben off again. Now he was rambling on about the ceramic pigs and something called "Hollerin' Time" and how he hadn't had any of it lately. By the time Ben began to divulge very unwanted information concerning the more naked aspects of "Hollerin' Time," Bryan had decided it was time for Ben to get home. This drunken occurrence had become so routine that the two men had a preemptive plan of action and Carolynn had become used to the idea of her husband crashing at Bryan's place.

Alex and Tanner were also at a fit level of intoxication. They were considering calling it quits when their male bonding was interrupted.

"Hello Tanner, Frat-boy." Andy had plopped down right beside Tanner in the small booth that they'd occupied for the last two hours. "Whatch'a two up to?" Andy's southern accent was back, once again, and she grinned at the two of them as they groaned at her chipper tone.

"Hey," Claire greeted in her own, much more welcome, dulcet tones as she took the only remaining seat beside Alex. "Where have you two been all day?" she asked as Andy placed a secretive order with the bartender from all the way across the room. Apparently she was close enough with the fresh-faced guy that he knew her drink order without her having to verbalize it.

"Golfing with Ben and Bryan," Tanner replied pressing his half empty glass of Guinness to the side of his head.

"Good, you should be good and drunk then." Andy smiled wickedly then hopped up to retrieve her drinks. She returned moments later with four martini glasses filled with some sort of greenish liquid. "This will be fun then." She passed each of them a glass.

"What is it?" Claire asked hesitantly. She stared into the glass as if she were looking into the face of a deformed creature.

"Just a little concoction from my old bartending days," Andy replied smiling and downing her lime green glass. I taught Little Greg it. It's the best."

"Well that settles it then." Tanner grimaced and pushed the glass away.

"You guys seriously won't drink it?" she asked as Claire too pushed hers away and signaled something to the same bartender. Apparently they frequented Klein's enough that the bartender knew their drink orders by heart. He showed up a few moments later, personally, handing Claire a diet Coke. "You wuss," Andy challenged her sister.

Claire shrugged and bore her sister's challenge with a composed sip of her coke and a "Thanks Greg," to the bartender.

Andy picked up Tanner's glass and downed that one too. Alex assumed it had to be some horrible tasting drink if it required that Andy drank it quite so quickly. "What about you Alex? You going to chicken out too, Frat-boy?" She leaned back against the booth and cocked an eyebrow at him. The challenge was evident and Alex took the bait with a smirk of his own. He picked up his glass and hesitantly took a sip of the ambiguous green liquid. He drank it with ease; it had a light unexpected fruitiness to it that made it easy to swallow. He smiled cockily and finished off the drink without pain. By the time he noticed Andy grinning triumphantly at him the after taste had snuck up on him and he found himself choking on the burning taste that enveloped him. How could anything taste that bad?

By the time the gag had escaped him, Andy was laughing wickedly. She picked up Claire's drink and downed that one too, then laughed even harder at the disbelieving expression on Alex's face, but Alex hardly cared that she was laughing at his expense. There it was; the thing Bryan and Ben had talked about; that overwhelming happiness that spread through him just at the mere twinkle of her laugh. It was rather eerie that he hadn't noticed the effect it had on him until then.

"Never drink anything Andy gives you," Claire muttered, leaning into him just enough to break the spell Andy's laughter had wrapped him in.

"Got it," Alex agreed readily, having quickly learned his lesson.

"How was your day?" Claire asked, staring at Tanner as if she were desperate to know what he was thinking.

"Fine but I still have trouble believing that your sister married Stewart McStewart," Tanner said conversationally as he sipped his beer.

"Stewart McStewart? I thought his name was Ben," Alex asked in confusion. His confusion was becoming so consistent that Alex wouldn't have been surprised to find his face permanently stuck in a baffled grimace.

"The McStewarts were the cruelest people I ever met. To name their child that…" Andy giggled.

Tanner also grinned. It was one of the first times he'd smiled all day. Maybe Andy still had that same effect on Tanner after all these years? "No, that's just what he's been telling everybody for his entire life. But one night Andy and I got him so drunk that he confessed the truth to us and even brandished his driver's license as proof."

"The boy was such an idiot that he'd only changed his name by word of mouth and not legally," Andy interjected with pride. "It wasn't long before Tanner and I exposed him as he was."

"So your sister married a man named Stewart McStewart?"

Claire almost choked on her Coke at such an idea. "Like Carolynn would stand for that. No, she refused to marry him until he officially changed his name to Ben. She didn't want her wedding invitations to read 'Stewart McStewart.' In fact she almost managed to get him to drop the surname too."

"As well she should have. I mean _Ben McStewart_ doesn't even sound all that great. You'd think if you could pick your own name you'd at least get something catchy," Andy added.

"What about you _Andrea_?" Tanner asked stressing her real name.

"Oh," she winced and covered her temples almost as if she'd been struck by a sudden brain freeze. "Don't use that blasted name for me."

"Why does she not like Andrea?" Alex asked Claire.

"It's too girly." Andy almost spat the words back at him.

Claire chuckled at her sister. "Andrea was the son my dad never had. When we were born my mother took me, the fair-headed delicate-natured one, and decided to dote upon me as her favorite. Dad took Andy. While I was learning how to bake pies, Andy was learning how to fix cars. She became a mud slinging, beer drinking tom-boy; while I became a sweet-tempered, jam cookin', beauty queen who can't even finish a glass of white wine without flushed cheeks and giggles."

"She really can't. It's rather funny," Andy said smiling. "Jell-O-shot night…" she murmured in remembrance and Claire pinkened a couple of shades.

"So that's why you two are so different?"

Andy smiled. "_That; _and the fact that I'm just genetically superior."

"You?" Claire asked her sister. "Hardly. You pick your teeth, for crying out loud."

"So? You do it too."

"But not in public," Claire hissed. Andy just laughed and Alex felt his fingers tingle at the noise. It was unsettling that her laughter had such an effect on him.

Suddenly Andy stooped mid-chortle and paled considerably. "How did he find me here?" she hissed trying desperately to arrange herself so that Tanner was blocking her from view. Alex and Claire simultaneously turned around to observe whatever had set Andy off. It wasn't long before Alex noticed Dylan standing by the door and looking slightly confused.

"Oh Andy! Would you grow up already?" Claire grunted bitterly, turning so she was sitting back in the booth.

"You grow up," Andy hissed back as she began to climb beneath the table. "I have trouble facing my past, Claire. And as my sister you are compelled to show compassion."

Claire just grunted again and took an unnaturally long gulp of Coke. "For heaven's sake, Andy, he's just a silly boy," Claire said as she resurfaced from her gigantic chug. She smiled as if she had just had a brilliant idea. "Are you _really_ saying you can't handle a silly boy?"

Andy took this as her cue to come out from under the table; her head popped up as if she were a prairie dog popping out of its hole. She quickly shot Alex an ambiguous, but brief, look then buried her head in her hands. "Am I going to have to break up with him?" Her distant voice floated up, muffled through her hands

"You've never broken up with anyone before?" Tanner asked in disbelief and Andy jerked her face out of her hands.

"Well not in so many words. Normally they get the point when I stop talking to them or flee the state."

Tanner laughed. "This is awesome."

Claire was also grinning quite broadly. "There's a first time for everything, Andy," she sang maniacally to her sister. Claire had become quite a bit more taunting of Andy over the last few days. Obviously their relationship was one of competition and mocking and not the buttery-sweetness Alex had first assessed. In fact the more Alex talked to Claire the more he realized she would be willing to say. Deep down, beneath layers of frills and smiles, Claire had a bit of Andy's rugged brashness about her. Perhaps that was why Tanner had found solace for his heartbreak in the arms of Andy's sister. They were twins, although they weren't identical; how different could they be?

"Please don't make me," Andy groaned.

"Just do it and get it over with," Claire prodded as Tanner literally prodded her by pushing her out of the booth. "It's better that you do it now rather than string him along and have him propose… again."

Andy had disappeared across the bar as Tanner mouthed the word "again?" to Claire who merely grinned with an untold secret. The three of them watched with great amusement as Andy sidled awkwardly up to where Dylan was now sitting at the bar. She quickly shot the bird at their table then dove right into conversation with Dylan.

"If nothing else, this should be amusing," Tanner said with a grin as they all eagerly leaned toward the scene before them. It was only a few moments later that Andy and Dylan seemed to be in a heated conversation. Andy was gesturing very rigidly and Dylan seemed to pale more by the second. Dylan obviously made some sort of protest because seconds after he spoke Andy clenched her fists and shouted, "No!" Dylan said something else before Andy _really_ lost it and shouted loudly, "Just leave me alone you annoying little prick!" She turned and stormed out of the bar, the entire place staring at her as she made her exit.

"Great, guess my night's over boys," Claire replied with a gracious smile as she lifted herself from their booth and followed obediently in her sister's wake.

"What was that 'bout, Tanner?" the waitress from Jim's asked with a worried stare as she stopped at Tanner and Alex's table.

"Nothin', Kara. Just Andy being Andy," Tanner replied through suppressed laughter as the bar erupted in motion again.

"Oh right." Kara nodded as if this explained everything and set off toward the bar for her drinks.

Tanner turned back to Alex and finally let his laughter fly. "Always an adventure 'round here, Al. When everyone knows your business, _that's _when things get interesting." He finished off his beer and headed toward the door, following the same path Claire had taken just seconds before.

* * *

Alex and Tanner made it out of the bar just in time to catch a ride with, the slightly more sober pair, Andy and Claire. Alex had to wait for the front seat while Andy moved her "precious" acoustic guitar with care that Alex had only seen used for diamonds and possessions whose worth was more than a million dollars. Although, it suddenly struck him, perhaps that guitar was the most valuable of Andy's belongings. 

Finally, they were on the road. Andy popped in a CD and hummed the lyrics as the soft southern melody floated through the car. Alex looked around him, trying to find something of interest, and finally noticed that the only thing in the car was CDs. There were CD's in the pocket attached to Andy's visor; there were CDs shoved into the small crack where her ceiling met the plastic lining around the doors; there were CDs everywhere and when he moved his feet he realized there were three large cases of CDs by his feet.

"What are all these?" he asked pulling out one of the cases and flipping through it. Each CD had three things written on it: a date, a place and a man's name.

Andy snorted. "CDs Alex. Never heard of them?"

"That's how Andy labels CDs," Claire added from the back seat. Alex was pretty sure Tanner would have had something to say regarding these CDs had he not fallen asleep already, with his face pressed against the window. "It's the place she was in when she made it, the date of creation and the man she thought of when she picked the songs. Under most cases it's the same man she met while at the place written on the disk."

Alex stared at the CDs before him. It was kind of disarming when he thought about it. There were hundreds of these things. He flipped through the CD case he was holding. It was full to the brim, with occasions in which three CDs were shoved into one slot. "There's so many of them," he murmured in shock.

Andy smacked her hand onto the middle of the case and pulled it out of Alex's hands. "You make me sound like some sort of slut, Frat-boy. They're not all labeled with names."

Alex's eyebrows were stuck all the way up by his scalp. "Right," he muttered pulling the case back away from her then closing it and placing it back by his feet. "You've been a lot of places." He gulped. He'd had a feeling that Andy got along just fine in the world, and Ben and Bryan had made it clear that she had no trouble making friends, but this was intimidating. That many men had tried -not that Alex was trying- to tame the reputable Andy Holly and none had succeeded?

Alex was so caught up in this train of thoughts that he didn't even notice the sirens behind them until the blinking red and blue lights were so close upon them that they were almost blinding. Andy hissed a few swear words and pulled over. She rolled down her window by hand because she still had those old twisty window knobs. The cop seemed to take forever to get to Andy's window and Alex thought for sure that they were screwed. Andy had definitely drank a fair share of alcohol with those nasty green concoctions, was it enough to stick them all in jail for the night?

There he was, a balding man with a crooked mustache and an alarming mole on his left cheek. "Hey there Archie," Andy said brightly and with a smile.

"Miss Andy?" he asked in disbelief. "I knew it was Tucker! Whatch'a doin' in town, girl?"

Andy shrugged and smiled. "Oh you know me. Just here for a bit of fun."

"I can see that. You were going awfully fast Miss Andy." Archie was trying desperately to be stern, but failing miserably.

Andy sighed sadly and jerked her head to the back of the car. "Just tryin' to get Tanner home before his momma worries, Archie. Nuthin' more."

"Tanner? Man, I didn't even know he was back in town." Archie shined his light into the back seat. He smiled gleefully at Claire and then his eyes dimmed on the snoring form of Tanner. "He drunk?"

Andy nodded sadly, playing her part to perfection. "You know Tanner; always gettin' into trouble."

Archie agreed with a simple, compassionate shrug. "It's a good thing he has a friend like you to take care of him, Miss. Andy."

Andy smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes; Alex would have laughed at such a scene had he not been so shocked. "I know. Poor thing, isn't he?"

"I'll tell you what," Archie leaned in and dimmed his light by covering it with his hand. "I'll let you go, Miss. Andy, if you promise to keep Tanner out of trouble while he's in town. Heaven knows what that boy would do if he didn't have you lookin' out for him."

"Thanks Archie. You're a blessed soul, I tell you. We're havin' a bit of a party on Friday; you'll come, wont you?" she asked sweetly.

Archie smiled back, melting into Andy's gorgeous greens just like every other man. "I give you my word, Miss Andy." Before Alex could even grasp what had just happened "Archie" had disappeared back to his car and Andy was grinning evilly.

"And that's how it's done," Andy gloated mercilessly. "I've been pulled over fifty-six times since I was sixteen years old and I've never gotten a ticket. What do you call that?"

"Unfair," Clair muttered from the back seat as she watched Tanner snore loudly with a crease of worry evident on her face. "Sometimes I hate you, Andy," Claire supplied sarcastically as Andy took off down the road, even faster then she'd been going before.

"It's a skill, Claire-Bear. And people say talking your way out of a ticket is difficult…"

Alex stared at her as she pressed the gas. He hardly even noticed they were moving, yet alone that they were moving dangerously fast down a curvy road. Alex felt almost as though he were floating. Her eyes were glowing in the moonlight through her window and she had a wispy smile pressing across her face. She seemed so happy and relaxed and for a second Alex had the fleeting feeling that this was where Andy Holly belonged; carefree and bereft, going wherever that windy road took her. For a fleeting second he had the feeling that this was her home. But fleeting seconds always come to a close and Alex, like many men before him, hoped that Andy would call another place home; a real place.

The unconscious thought made him smile as he watched her. Then he, uncharacteristically and for the first time, spoke without thinking, "Andy Holly, you're pretty amazing."

Andy shot him one quick look before her attention was back on the road. "Thanks Frat-boy," she whispered as she focused on the road before her and nothing else. "Thanks."

* * *

_OK. I'm going to chacter analyze, because I can't help myself. _

_I love Ben and Bryan and you'll do good to remember them. The whole story behind the Stella-Ben-Carolynn love triangle is a very interesting one and I can't wait until it surfaces. You'll see a bit more of that in the next chapter._

_I love the way Andy and Alex have these secret little challenges. The whole thing with the drinks speaks a lot about the kind of person Alex is, because he didn't yield, and the kind of person Andy is, because she took so much joy in his pain. It's a bit cruel in the end. Andy seems to do that sometimes. Like Bryan said… She's a spider._

_I know the whole thing with Tanner and Andy seems a bit creepy. Loving one sister then moving onto the other, but you forget that this story only shows Alex's thoughts and I assure you that there's more to it than Alex has been told. There seems to be more to everything than what Alex thinks. Just don't hate me for making Tanner and Claire's relationship a bit more complex. Andy and Claire's too; there's a bit of underlying competition there I think and that's just the truth about siblings or really anyone you're close with. Jealousy is a disease and the Holly sisters suffer from it._

_Ok review because the next scene's the party and I have a bit of a twist awaiting Alex._

_I've said it before: Reviews are in short supply and consequently so are updates._


	6. Ain't Nothin' 'Bout You

_Don't you just love Thursdays? They've always been my favorite day of the week, for no particular reason. I just like them I suppose; partly because that's the day that Grey's Anatomy airs and The Office, but mostly I like Thursdays because they signify a pending weekend. But now I have my weekly updates for added incentive._

* * *

_**Love to the Tune of a Country Song**_

"Once I thought that love was something I could never do  
Never knew that I could feel this much  
But this yearning in the deep part of my heart for you  
Is more than a reaction to your touch  
It's a perfect passion and I can't get enough

"The way you look, the way you laugh,  
The way you love with all you have,  
There ain't nothing bout you

That don't do something for me  
The way you kiss, the way you cry,  
The way you move when you walk by  
There's ain't nothing bout you  
That don't do something for me"

- Brooks and Dunn; _"Ain't Nothin' 'Bout You"_

* * *

The boy and the girl were at a loss with each other. Neither had much to say to the other and so they avoided each other. The boy met many of the girl's friends and each one told a tale more foreboding than the next. It was a bad sign and yet, when the boy and the girl faced each other again, the boy still found himself making the same mistake everyone else had made.

The girl was hardly to blame… After all, it was only a kiss.

* * *

As Saturday, the day of the party, approached the Holly girls were harder to come by. Their mother had deemed it her daughters' top priority to help with preparations. This left Tanner and Alex to their own devices. Stella had finally coerced the pair of men down to the country club to observe her Debs. They were all southern bells with deep-rooted accents and pockets full of daddy's money. Stella had proudly informed them that these girls were the pinnacle of Selma's society; Alex had found that a bit discouraging considering there wasn't one among them that he could stomach. Tanner returned Stella's proclamation with the information that none of the Holly girls had been Debs, but Stella seemed to think that this only reassured her point.

Outside of Stella's exclusive society, Alex was finally finding that the people of town weren't nearly as bad as he'd first deemed. Kara, the waitress from Jim's, was a friendly, but slightly plain, woman who spoke commonly of her days as an aspiring actress in New York. Alex liked the way she could relate stories pertaining to places Alex actually knew. Bryan and Ben showed up most nights for a short drink and a quick laugh before Bryan dragged a slightly lucid Ben back to his wife. Everyone seemed to gather at Klein's every night and Alex heard stories from almost every inhabitant of town and their adventures outside of Selma. Almost everyone had a tale of a floundering dream that they'd set off across the country in search of. There were periodical tales of success, but it seemed as though nearly everyone had returned in the end.

By the time Saturday had rolled around Alex was beginning to enjoy the company of Selma and even managed to comprehend what people were saying. Equipped with one of Hank's old cowboy hats, Alex had followed Tanner and the rest of the Daniels family into a clearing just off the tip of the Holly-Woods. It was a shallow part of the forest where trees weren't right in the middle of the clearing, but, if one really needed to, they could find a nice private area. The trees twinkled with fairy lights that Andy had covered almost every bush in. There was a makeshift stage made from milk crates and plywood where Greg, the bartender from Klein's, sat with his computer hooked up to a set of speakers while he carefully extracted all George Strait songs from his iTunes library to provide the music for the night; and just like at Klein's, everyone in town seemed to be there.

"Howdy," Andy Holly greeted with a hug for every member of the Daniels family except for Stella, who shot her a cold glare and turned her back on the girl. Andy just laughed and forgot to greet Alex. She was obviously the person most involved in the theme of the party, with her jean mini-skirt held up by an ostentation belt-buckle, a pair of brown cowboy boots and a homemade t-shirt that read "All my exes live in Texas, and that's why I hang my hat in Tennessee." Alex had already recognized this to be a line from one of George Strait's songs; the same one that Tanner had teased him about a week prior, but Tanner had only ever used the first part of the quote and the line only made sense now that he knew the words that followed.

Claire appeared at her sister's shoulder moments later. After a quick hello to the Daniels she addressed the men of their odd group. She wore jeans and a button-up men's oxford that she tied around her waist. "Momma says I have to start off the dancin'," Claire said meekly. "Anyone want the honors?"

Alex had already vowed to stay about as far away from Andy Holly as he could and it seemed that agreeing to dance with her sister would do the trick, but Tanner beat him to the punch. Even with Tanner ruining his plans, Alex needn't have worried about Andy because she disappeared moments later to greet the next family that wondered into the clearing.

Hank shuffled his wife off in Tanner and Claire's wake for a little dancing, freeing Alex up to really look around. He'd never been to a party in the woods, but this had been a week full of new ideas for Alex and he was no longer surprised. He quickly made his way to the drink table and fixed himself a highly toxic Bloody Mary. He had a quick chat with Ben about trying another go at golf the next day while Bryan and Carolynn had a hushed conversation a few yards away.

Before he could finish his conversation with Ben, Stella had appeared on his arm. She shot Ben a vindictive glare and Alex a seductive one before she practically tricked Alex into taking her for a spin around the dance floor. As he danced idly with the clingy blond he preoccupied his thoughts by pondering the relationship between Ben and Stella. Ben had mentioned an engagement and obviously Stella was still put-out by the fact that the promised wedding had never taken place. How did Ben bounce off Stella Daniels and land in the arms of Carolynn Holly?

As soon as the song ended, Alex evacuated Stella's presence and set off to make his next drink. Andy was there pouring a hefty amount of vodka into a glass. She didn't say a word to Alex when she looked up from the bottle she'd set down. Her face didn't change or show any hint of recognition, but, instead of picking up the Cranberry juice she'd been planning to add to her glass, she picked back up the vodka and filled her glass to the brim, leaving only enough room for the three ice cubes she dropped in. She took a long sip and disappeared again. She would continue this ritual for most of the night.

* * *

A bit later, Alex was still hovering near the drink table and observing the party, especially a certain brunette who stopped by the drink table quite often to refresh her glass of vodka. Dylan, however, also shared Alex's plan of action. Alex was surprised to find that the poor man hadn't left town after Andy spurned him at Klein's and was intrigued by his persistent presence.

"Interesting place, isn't it?" Alex asked Dylan taking care to pronounce the words correctly and not drop letters with an accent. Alex didn't want this man to think that Alex was just another resident of Selma.

Dylan looked up at Alex, slightly astounded, as if he hadn't even noticed another person nearby. "Er— yeah; I guess I hadn't really thought about it." His face lit up as if he'd only just recognized Alex. "I know you. You were at Jim's with Andy. Are-are you guys friends?" he asked, transforming quickly from mild impatience to rapture.

Alex shrugged. Was there a word for what Alex and Andy were? "More like acquaintances through a mutual friend. Individually we don't really get along."

Dylan seemed let-down. "So you haven't known her very long I'm guessing."

Alex nodded his assurance. "Sorry," he supplied meekly as Dylan's face dropped even lower.

He sighed. "I must seem like the most pathetic guy in the world." Alex shook his head even though he mildly considered Dylan to be so. "I just can't help it, there's something about her." He pressed his face into his hands in frustration. "It's true. I _am_ the most pathetic man in the world. I only know a girl for three weeks and then I have the audacity to follow her all the way from Dallas and propose to her- _twice!_"

Alex winced and found his teeth clenched in sympathy. It really was a horrible situation that Dylan had led himself naively into. "I've known men to do worse," Alex supplied supportively. It wasn't that Alex had any real care for Dylan; Alex was merely supplying the truth. Tanner had done some crazy acts in the name of love for his precious, cheating ex-wife. Hal, Tanner's cousin, was known for quickly falling in and out of love with fast women. Hell, Alex had forced himself to endure a horrible relationship with Kim for almost three years.

Dylan hardly listened to Alex's reassurances. "I'm not normally this petulant. I've lived my entire life on the beaten track. I went to law school. I have a steady job at my father's practice and a clean-cut life that I used to love. Andy just made me feel so free. I don't think I ever realized I was living until she came around. I miss having her to laugh with. It's hard to remember what I loved about my life now that I know what life with Andy could have been. It pales in comparison."

Dylan seemed quite mesmerized by his sorrow, but Alex was quite astounded by Dylan's anecdote. That wasn't too far from Alex's story. He loved his life even though some would consider it to be a bit boring. Alex did the same things everyday. He went to the same bagel shop every morning and ate the pain one because he never had the nerve to try a different kind. He hung out with the same four guys everywhere he went. But, unlike Dylan, Alex hadn't fallen in love with Andy… at least not to his knowledge. Alex was convinced that life without Andy would be just fine.

Ben suddenly appeared by Alex's shoulder. "Y'all seen my wife?" he asked breathlessly.

Alex shrugged. "Last I saw her she was arguing with Bryan about something." Alex had only remembered that exchange because Bryan had looked deathly pale as Carolynn berated him. He'd lost track of the two of them when he'd noticed Dylan lurking.

Ben shrugged and pushed it out of mind. "It don' matter. What were you two talkin' 'bout?"

Dylan seemed to slump even further. "Andy Holly."

Ben nodded as if this was an expected response. "You 'n the rest of the world it seems."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked as he shook his empty glass and watched as the ice cubes rearranged themselves.

"You seen her CD collection? Don't worry Dylan; you're not the first guy to show up in town waitin' 'round for Andy, just the first that actually found her again."

"You mean other guys have come around here looking for Andy?"

Ben shrugged. "Yeah, you know Greg? The bartender?" Alex and Dylan nodded. "Well he's not from 'round here. He met Andy somewhere around Massachusetts and waited here for four months before she showed up. By that time Andy had forgotten him and Greg was over it enough to never bring it up. He kind of grew into this town and never left and so he seems like a local, but I assure you there's a CD in Andy's car with his name on it. Plus, if you talk to him, you'll notice he has a Yankee accent."

It was officially true. Every man in this town had a story about Andy.

"I'll tell you how to get over her, Dylan." Ben was nonchalant as he spoke, but Dylan hung on his every word and even Alex was enraptured. "You jus' gotta forget her. She forgot you, now it's your turn. Andy'll open your eyes to the world, so look 'round and see that there are plenty of other great gals out there. You just gotta find one that lights your fire and let Andy Holly go on with her business."

Alex decided not to comment on the hypocrisy of that statement. Who would take relationship advice from a man that couldn't even keep tabs on his own wife? …Besides Dylan.

* * *

Andy sat up on their small stage, already sufficiently wasted. She held her precious acoustic guitar and had a queasy smile spread across her flushed cheeks. "Hey guys," she yelled out across the clearing, but she didn't need to yell loud, for everyone had gathered close to her for her little performance. "I'm going to be doin' a song, but, for tradition's sake, I'm going to be needin' some assistance." Her smile broadened and she beamed at a particular spot in the small crowd of people. "C'mon Tanner!" she pleaded whirling her hand as people chorused a cheer. "Get 'em up here!"

The people around Tanner were pushing at the man as he stood rooted to the ground, adamantly shaking his head. "We're not sixteen anymore Andy!" he shouted back at her eventually. "We can't do stuff like this anymore."

"Hells yes we can!" she chimed back. "We'll always be sixteen at heart, Firecracker." When Tanner still refused to move she finally blackmailed him by claiming she'd reveal the story behind the name Firecracker. That got Tanner onto the stage in a flash and with a spreading pink blush.

"Ya'll know what we'll be doin', right?" she asked the crowd while Tanner did some comical stretches to prepare for his impromptu performance. Everyone chorused back an array of answers, but the majority just assured Andy that they all knew what to expect; Alex, however, did not, but he didn't say this aloud.

Andy wrapped her guitar strap over her shoulder and twiddled a couple of notes to check her tuning. She smiled out at the crowd and hit the first notes of her song, moving her fingers across the chords with profound dexterity. Everyone visibly drew breath and waited as Andy opened her mouth to sing slowly:

"I don't want to be the kind to hesitate,  
Be too shy, wait too late  
I don't care what they say other lovers do,  
I just want to dance with you."

She had a pretty voice, but she dropped it almost comically deep to mock the brutish tones of George Strait. She grinned as her stanza finished and turned to Tanner with her customary wicked grin, teasing him into submission.

Tanner picked up the next verse in perfect timing. This was obviously a practiced routine.

"I gotta feeling that you have a heart like mine,  
So let it show, let it shine.  
If we have a chance to make one heart of two,  
I just want to dance with you."

As Tanner sang, Andy twirled around the stage, continuing to strum her guitar with apparent ease. She ended up right back beside Tanner with an ungraceful pirouette. They leaned together and sang the chorus in unison:

"I want to dance with you, twirl you all around the floor  
That's what they intended dancin' for,  
I just want to dance with you.  
I want to dance with you, hold you in my arms once more,  
That's what they invented dancin' for,  
I just want to dance with you."

Andy dropped her hands away from the guitar, leaving the melody to the imagination, while Tanner grabbed her hands and danced slowly with her on that rickety stage. The entire room was peeled over in laughter at their display of wacky dance moves as Tanner practically dropped her while doing a dip, lumbering her back upright as she steadied her guitar and picked back up the tune.

When she opened her mouth to sing again, the effect of her simple voice was tinged with amusement as she suppressed her laughter through her verse:

"I caught you lookin' at me when I looked at you,  
Yes I did, ain't that true?  
You won't get embarrassed by the things I do,  
I just want to dance with you."

As she sang the line "You won't get embarrassed by the things I do," Tanner shouted out, "Oh yes I will," and she hardly finished the verse before her laughter overcame her. Even through her tipsy giggles and Tanner's Michael Jackson dance moves she managed to keep the melody steady. It was an unnatural sight; watching Tanner do the moonwalk to such a slow, twinkling melody.

Tanner picked up his verse right before he shouted a quick "Ow!" and an even faster crotch grab:

"Oh the boys are playin' softly and the girls are too,  
So am I and so are you.  
If this was a movie, we'd be right on cue,  
I just want to dance with you."

Once again, Tanner and Andy leaned closer to each other and sang the chorus with practiced precision; Tanner acting out the words they sang as if he were in an overly dramatic and warped play:

"I want to dance with you, twirl you all around the floor  
That's what they intended dancin' for,  
I just want to dance with you.  
I want to dance with you, hold you in my arms once more,  
That's what they invented dancin' for,  
I just want to dance with you."

The performance was winding down and Tanner faked a stage dive while Andy twiddled her last note on the guitar and sang the last lines softly, drowned out by everyone's cheers and laughter.

"I just want to dance with you,  
I just want to dance with you,  
I just want to dance with you." [1

* * *

The performance had obviously been the climax of the night and after it was finished many of the attendants of the party drifted off, back to their warm beds to the relief of their exhausted children.

But Alex only leaned closer to Kara as she began her story. They were standing idly by the edge of the emptying clearing with Dylan still hanging by Alex's shoulder. Alex didn't even notice Dylan though; he was excited at the prospect of hearing one of Kara's stories. Kara told the best stories about her time in New York and they made Alex feel slightly less homesick, if only for a moment.

"I was doing a short stint in _Rent_. I had a small role in which I danced in the background and wore a pink fuzzy bra, but I had my name in a Playbill and a bit of cash. Mostly I just did a lot of waitressing, waiting for my big break. I waited a long time and eventually I got real homesick."

"Is that why you came back to Selma?" Alex asked listening with interest while Dylan listened over his shoulder and blew bubbles in his drink like a child.

Kara shook her head. "No. I came home after I got my heart broken by a boy named Johnny. I'd met him while Andy was in town. I hadn't expected her to show up, but one day she just kind of appeared and slept on the chair in my tiny little apartment. I liked havin' her 'round because she reminded me of home—"

"Andy just appeared on your doorstep? Isn't that a bit weird?" Alex asked calmly interrupting the long-winded woman.

Kara shrugged. "Andy isn't the imposing type; most of the time you feel lucky just to have her 'round. She's a whole hell of a lot of fun and always knows where the best places are. Andy is a 'local' no matter where she goes. Anyway, we were out getting drinks at some fancy club neither of us could afford, but Andy was a master at flirting and she'd managed to get the pair of us through an entire night without buying a single drink. Johnny came 'round, talkin' up Andy like a pro. But Andy just smiled at him and asked if he'd like to buy me a drink. She passed him up and that was sayin' somethin' because Johnny was a looker."

"Why'd she let him go then?" Dylan asked. Just like Ben's story about Andy, Dylan was drawn into Kara's tale as well.

Kara looked up at the stars for a bit. "She said that she knew from the moment she met him that he was a heartbreaker and I'd need to be careful with him. Of course I refused to listen and in the end she was right. Andy's always had a sense about men."

"Weren't you upset that Andy had given him to you knowing that he was no good?" Alex was curious. If anything it seemed to him that Andy was dumping her rejects onto her friend. Andy seemed to be the catalyst for Kara's heartbreak and that was hardly a role that deserved respect.

Kara quickly shook her head. "I have no reason to blame Andy. She'd warned me and it was only my own stupidity that got me in trouble. A warning from Andy should always be heeded, that's what I learned. If she said the sky was fallin', I'd believe her."

Alex noted Andy in the middle of the area dancing and laughing with her sisters, Carolynn having resurfaced. This whole town was wrapped up in Andy, and Alex watched her laugh pondering the predicament as Kara and Dylan drifted into some intense conversation of their own.

Sure, Andy was beautiful, but so were many girls. Maybe she had a kind of free spirit about her that made you want to laugh as loudly and freely as she did. And she _did_ have that whole impossibility index; she was the kind of challenge that many guys would love to claim they'd figured out. But there was one more thing about her, something Alex couldn't put his finger on, but it was the same thing that magnetized her. It was the reason everyone loved to talk about her. It was why she was fresh on Alex's mind almost twenty-four/seven. But what was it?

Hank waddled over to Alex and jabbed the mesmerized boy softly in the ribs with his elbow. "I see you're a bit wrapped up in our girl."

Alex shrugged and broke the spell placed upon is eyes that glued them to the form of Andy Holly as she danced goofily with her two sisters. "Who are you talking about?"

Hank smiled knowingly and shook his head sadly. "I ain't as dumb as I look, Alex Crink. Remember what I said? It's the chase that makes it worthwhile. With Andy all you get is the chase; she never stops running. You're still fresh off a break-up Alex. I love Andy like a daughter, but I think you would do good to remember that."

Alex bit his bottom lip. Hank wasn't the only one who had realized this.

"If you want something more than the chase, you better look to someone else." Hank, too, was watching the three Holly girls as they laughed at each other and moved with rhythmic instability. He stood silently beside Alex for another few minutes then wandered off to find his wife. It didn't take Hank long to locate her; he could hear his wife's strong southern drawl from across the clearing, laughing the night away with Mrs. Holly, as he led her home.

* * *

Andy had planned on refreshing her drink, but ulterior motives always seemed to find her and, before she knew it, she was peering up from her cup filled with cranberry and vodka and her eyes stuck themselves, on their own accord, to the image of a young man gripping a red Dixie cup, and bobbing his head to a slightly askew rhythm.

Alex Crink had drunk enough Bloody Marys that night that he didn't even realize that his head was moving unsteadily to the beat of the song. To his knowledge, he wasn't moving a fraction of an inch, but merely watching as Tanner spun Claire around. They were the only two people remaining on the dance floor, aside from Ben and Carolynn who were wrapped tightly together and swaying to beat slower than the one everyone else could hear.

"Hey there." Andy hadn't said a word to him throughout the entire night, merely filling herself with unwarranted amounts of alcohol every time she felt the compulsion to speak with him. Needless to say, Alex was a bit surprised when she appeared, cup full of potent alcohol in hand and a flippant grin, right there beside him. "Did you have fun tonight?" she asked simply, not bothering to prod him for his details of the night, but accepting his simple nod.

"Did you enjoy the performance?" she asked.

Once again she accepted his reply of a nod and a hidden smile, obscuring a grin of her own.

"Overall, I think the party went pretty well. You had fun, I had fun. Everyone seemed to have fun." He was no longer only concealing a smile, he was concealing his laughter. A small grunting chuckle escaped him as she wobbled on her spot. She hiccoughed a chortle of laughter of her own and smiled at him. "You don't talk much, do you Alex?" she asked eventually after staring at him for a prolonged moment, looking up into those icy blues as they stared back at her, down her own twinkling green eyes.

Alex shook his head for the third time. All sense of humor was suddenly gone from the situation. There it was again, that thing he couldn't put his finger on; but as her eyes danced, alternating between green and brown, he felt it pulling him under her spell.

Andy leaned forward momentarily, rocking towards him enough that her red cup was pressed into Alex's abdomen before she rocked back to resume her prior position. "Alex," she giggled, breaking the contact between them, even though they hadn't touched. "Say something."

"Okay." He grabbed her red cup from her hand and placed both of them onto the edge of the table. "Dance with me." He grabbed her hand that still hung, clutching at a cup that was no longer there. He interlaced their fingers and didn't wait for a reply before he had pulled her onto the dance floor.

Her eyes weren't dancing, but as he twirled her slowly the lights compensated by reflecting different colors back at him. Brown to green. Green to brown. It was mesmerizing.

"Alex, why are you so serious all of a sudden?" she asked slowly, choosing her words carefully and slowly; her brain deficient in its state. She wasn't paying close enough attention to him to observe his shrug, her eyes were focused over his shoulder at a patch of wood, but her vision extended beyond that. "I don't like being this serious."

Alex didn't bother to reply. He barely bothered to listen. He didn't know if it was the alcohol or being that close to Andy, but his brain had gone all fuzzy and he could barely process anything. He was completely bereft of thoughts of all kinds. His best friend had just disappeared into the woods with Claire Holly and Alex never even noticed a difference. No worries; no troubles. Just like Andy, Alex was miles away in a world he'd never even dreamed of, floating on a carefree cloud.

It was true. There wasn't a single thought in Alex's mind. If there had been, Alex never would have let himself continue. It would have been stupid to do so after everything he knew about Andy. Alex didn't want to be another bug in the web. He would have pushed Andy Holly away, or even denied himself the dance to begin with… Were they even dancing? Alex couldn't tell anymore.

"Yo!" Greg shouted over them, snapping both back to the present. He stood there, laptop in hand, in an empty clearing. The music had stopped and, the instant they realized this, both Andy and Alex took a step back, parting their dance, and dropping their clasped hands. "I just thought you'd like to know that everyone left." Greg looked slightly put-out as he rolled his eyes and set off through the woods back to civilization.

It was an awkward moment. Like coming up for air after being on the bottom of a pool of water for much longer than you can hold your breath. He gasped. Had all the air just suddenly escaped his lungs?

"You up for a little walk?" she asked suddenly with quirked eyebrows. "The quickest way back is a secret path through the Holly-woods."

Alex shrugged. "I've nothing better to do," he replied simply.

Alex followed quickly in her wake as she trudged steadily through the woods. "Do you know where we're at?" he asked quickly, suddenly finding his words easily. "These woods are pretty big."

Andy shot him a look over her shoulder as Alex raced to catch up with her. "Don't worry. You're with a Holly girl," she said as he caught up with her, but still struggled to keep pace.

"And why is that reassuring?"

Andy smiled wistfully, almost as though she were suddenly transported to a world that existed completely in her memory. Alex tried not to show signs of mistrust; he'd heard tales of all sorts about this girl and knew for a fact that she was capable of almost anything. As Andy led him in an erratic path deeper into the wood, his mind screamed in reluctance. This girl could be an axe-murderer for all he knew. But just as Alex was contemplating his odds of escaping the woods without assistance, the girl beside him stopped.

"Why are you so jumpy?" she asked. It hadn't been but a couple of minutes and yet her face was teasing again, wiped clean of that distant expression she'd worn as they danced. "Scared I'll murder you out here in these dark woods where no one would ever hear you scream?"

Alex's jaw dropped. Was this girl really that insane?

Suddenly, Andy broke off into a cackle of laughter. "Oh Frat-boy! I wish you could have just seen your face."

Alex glared and flicked her on the arm. "Don't make fun of me."

"Did you just _flick_ me?" Andy asked, her face still etched with amusement. "Are we still six years old then?"

"Maybe," he replied and flicked her again.

"Ugh," she growled and jumped on his back, her knees shoved onto either side of his waist to keep her up. "For that you shall carry me the rest of the way."

Alex wobbled drunkenly for a moment under their combined weight then let go of his hands that had instinctively gone to her legs to keep her up and she slowly slipped back to the ground. "I don't think so," he teased as she hit the ground. Alex was so new to this side of banter that he barely understood it. Blame it on the alcohol, but Alex found himself flirting with a girl- a pastime he'd never been too adept at.

"Alex, you're a jerk." Andy stood and stomped off into the woods. Alex, who feared getting lost, had no choice but to follow her.

"Are you honestly mad at me?" he asked, still amused, as he caught up with her.

She whirled on him and he suddenly felt a bit scared of her. "Beware the wrath of an angry woman," Hal had always said; and Hal would know, he'd met more than one man's share of women.

Alex prepared himself to be told off. He had his eyes shut and his shoulders tensed up for a scream in his face that never came.

"Alex Crink," she said softly and matter-of-factly, "I hate you."

Alex didn't know what to say. The revelation had been random, if not a bit uncalled for. She hated him? Then what was all that stuff back at the party? What was all that flirting? He was speechless, but it didn't matter; Andy was not finished.

"You're an infuriating jerk." Her tone was still nonchalant, but that only served to make the sentiment even more haunting.

Alex was still a bit flabbergasted. "Is this about what you heard me say the day we first met? About the circus and such?"

Andy shook her head. "I'm a southern girl, Alex. You think I haven't had my share of insults? Eventually you become so coated in them that new ones just kind of roll off you, unable to penetrate the barrier."

"Ok," he drawled slowly, eyeing her wearily. Maybe she was an axe-murderer after all? "So then what'd I do to deserve such a confession?"

Andy shrugged. "I suppose I'm just drunk enough to speak my mind and that thought just seemed to leak out."

"So then you don't hate me?"

"No, I do."

"Why?" he drawled.

"Do I need a reason?" she asked back.

He nodded.

"Ok." She slowly licked her lips, but Alex hardly noticed. "I hate you because I've met you before."

Alex was confused. He was fairly positive that he'd never met Andy before. Surely there was no way they'd bumped into each other along the way and he couldn't remember her. Andrea was a lot of things, but she wasn't forgettable.

"I know everything I need to know about you and I hardly even know you," Andy continued and Alex's confusion abated considerably.

"You hate me," he contemplated aloud, trying to distinguish the point she was trying to make, "because I remind you of other men you've met?"

Andy hesitated. "Yes."

This was becoming frustrating and with the way Alex's mind was reeling and inhibited it wasn't but a moment before he was becoming angry. "You've classified me without even giving me a shot?" he asked, his brain prickling with raw anger.

"Yeah, because you're a generic. You're a momma's-boy. Born and raised in some shoddy New England town. I'm guessing you went Ivy League for school. You were a frat boy. You didn't have to work until graduation because your Daddy sent you hefty checks every month. You have no taste, no interests. You date mindless women that you can wear around town like some sort of prize. You look down your nose at everyone in this town because you consider us beneath you when it's really the other way around. You have no generosity, no sense of kinship or companionship. You don't even know how to loosen up and have fun. I've met more men than I could ever want and you, Alex Crink, are one of the worst kinds."

"Are you done?" he asked with his jaw clenched tightly. If there was one thing Alex hated, it was being lumped into a category with all the other baboons of his sex. If you've met one man you've met them all- a parable that Alex refused to live by. The thing about his father coddling him… a momma's boy… oh God, if she only knew that Alex hadn't had a "momma," nor a father that even had the word "coddle" in his dictionary. He barely resisted the urge to set her straight.

"No." She shot up her eyebrow and it arched at him, challenging him. "You accuse me about making snap judgments, but who is the one that made the first judgment? You're an _impossible_ man that's _impossible_ to please and so I see no point in even trying."

Alex didn't waste another moment before he kissed her.

"You'd do best to just stay away from me, Alex Crink," she warned as she pulled away slightly and regulated her breathing. Her voice was still eerily passive, but her nose was still pressed against his and words were the last thing on Alex's mind.

"I'll leave that up to me," he whispered, still so close that his alcohol riddled breath was pressing against her lips. Once again, he closed the distance.

* * *

Kill the Moonlight, Stab the Sun

Saturday, March 12

Mood: Relieved

Music: Truckin'; The Grateful Dead

Free at last, free at last! I can finally get the hell out of this godforsaken town and departure is scheduled for immediate takeoff. I'll pack Tucker, but that won't take but a couple of minutes, and I'll be gone before the sun rises. It's how I like to go- at night before my mother can force me to stay.

I did a bit too much drinking tonight, but I figure, with a brief nap once I get out of town, I'll just sleep it off and hit the highway. I'm going north! Cleveland maybe? I haven't been to Ohio in a very long time and even then it was a short stay… even by my standards.

I'll be sad to leave Claire, but I'm quite confident that Tanner will keep her occupied in my absence. It's good I won't be here to see her heart break all over again when he goes back to New York. I don't think my sister understands that everyone has strings attached. Whether by choice or by force, all people go their own way. I'll miss Claire-bear's annoying optimism though; so sure that everything will turn out all right in the end, but Claire doesn't know that life never ends, so nothing is ever fully resolved.

I'll leave her a note on her mirror. I like to do this to her because it freaks her out when she takes a shower and my invisible message appears across the glass as if a ghost has left her a note. I like to say goodbye to her because I feel bad leaving her here with Mama and Caro. She deserves something outside the confines of this town… I think that's what keeps me coming back here. It isn't that I consider this place to be "home," but merely out of guilt for the twin I left behind.

I'm quite glad to take the road again. I have been forced to stay far too long and look at all the horrible things that have come to pass. I had to reject two marriage proposals by a deranged man. I had to watch my twin set herself up for heartbreak; meanwhile my baby sister deserved to get her heart broken… and probably a few bones too. And I accidentally kissed someone I probably shouldn't have.

But none of it matters now. I'm back on the road. Tanner can add him to the derogatory "web" and Alex gets his name printed on a CD.

It's not like he'll be the first.

Coming to a town near you,

Andy Holly

* * *

Alex rolled over in his bed and growled. He'd miraculously awoken at the same time he always did, but that didn't mean his head wasn't pounding like he'd taken a bludgeon from a hammer the night before. Stupid sun… why'd it have to be so bright?

Alex dressed slowly and headed downstairs to find a water bottle to wash away his aches and press against his heavy head. He popped two aspirin and chased them with a hearty swig of water as he pressed the cool bottle against his forehead.

Alex would have felt completely terrible had he not still had the memories of last night to keep him warm. He took his customary seat by the window, waiting for her, as he contemplated her kiss. Was it going to be weird having to face her today after what had transpired? Should he just pretend he didn't remember it, or would she be offended by that?

Either way, he'd never forget the way she'd pinned him to that tree extracting a kiss from him that he would file away with other drunken kisses and irrational moments. So far he'd amassed a grand total of two… this one included.

Alex's watch beeped and he pressed his face against the window waiting for her to jog by.

"You'll be waiting forever," Tanner's voice said from the doorway. Alex unstuck his face and turned to his best friend. Tanner shook his head slowly, pressing a water bottle to his head just like Alex. Tanner turned and made his way back into the den with only these words: "She'll have left by now."

* * *

[1 "I Just Want to Dance With You"- George Strait (Who else?!)

* * *

_Wow. Before I say anything I have to beg you not to hate Andy. Please don't hate her! She's amazing and flawed, but you can't hate someone for their flaws. I too admit that she has much more Holly than Lizzy to her, but in my mind I think that a modern day Lizzy would be just as scared of love as Holly and Andy are. I think even an eighteenth century Lizzy feared love more than normal. Who else would turn away Mr. Darcy? Andy is redeemable… at least to me she is. This is a Darcy fic and sometimes I feel like Andy hardly has a chance to defend herself and her actions as they're seen by Alex. _

_That last scene, with Alex by the window, breaks my heart a little. He's sitting there planning out his conversation with Andy that will never take place… I think every one of us has been there and experienced that. I've done it countless times. Conversations with boys I'd never even speak to._

_On a more positive note I just want to thank my reviewers. I think the feedback I've gotten from this story is the most endearing thing ever. I really feel like you guys are beginning to love these characters as much as I do. This story is like my baby. I've been dreaming it up for more than a year now and to hear people say such positive things about it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I like my other stories, but in a very superficial way. This story, I love. And anything people have to say about it, I almost take as a personal compliment. _

_You're right Staheli, It's not Capote and it's not Jane. It's me. I can't help but slip in my own little thoughts. I let myself narrate this story and so my opinions, my wisecracks, are etched into almost every line. I think my feelings on every character are clear… except those I purposely delay judgment of. For those characters… expect a twist._

_Until next Thursday…_


	7. A Little More You

_**Love to the Tune of a Country Song**_

"Don't you wanna dive on in, yeah the water feels right  
Dancin' on the edge of the love you're a beautiful sight  
So why're you still standin' there in the half moonlight  
Come on, baby, give me a little more you  
Your battin' those baby blue eyes and, honey I swear  
The way you got me needing you girl, it just ain't fair  
You've given me a little bit yeah, but don't stop there  
Come on, baby, give me a little more you  
Come on, baby, give me a little more you

"I'm here fallin' for you  
My hearts callin' for you  
I know I never can get enough  
Don't hold back one bit of your love  
Strong and steady for you  
I'm all ready  
Come on, baby, give me a little more you  
Come on, baby, give me a little more you."

-Little Big Town; _"A Little More You"_

* * *

It would be a long time before the girl and the boy would see each other again, and both acutely felt the absence of the other- despite the rocky terms under which their meeting had taken place. Each took precautions to preoccupy themselves and lock away all thoughts they had of the other. 

Meanwhile, our boy prepared to move on. He packed away his things and skipped town, hoping to never come back. He could hope all he wanted; fate had other plans…

* * *

Life after Andy skipped town got a bit more tedious. 

Andy had been the one to round up the troops and storm into "the City" or take them out for a late night walk through the woods. Andy was the major force behind ninety percent of their laughter and ninety-nine percent of their drunkenness. But Alex tried with all his might not to think about that. She was a spider and it didn't matter how many times she made him laugh or the way his lips still tingled a whole three days after their kiss in the woods… Alex refused to be another bug in her web, another CD in her car.

But despite Alex's best efforts, life was somewhat boring without Andy around. The boys played golf, but Stella seemed to be waiting around every corner to jump out and imply her wishes toward Alex, thus dampening every outing. This only created another girl that Alex tried desperately to avoid; the list was amounting to Kim, Andy, and Stella… this was quite a list for Alex- who was normally very apropos in his relationships with women.

Tanner had been scarce for the majority of their final week in town. Alex didn't know this, but Claire Holly was harder to track down than normal as well… but that's irrelevant. Tanner's preoccupation left Alex even more alone with, unfortunately, only his thoughts to keep him company. Alex's mind jumped all around; to places he'd purposely locked away. He thought furiously of ways to keep Stella off his back. He thought even harder about trying _not_ to think about Andy. He considered all the mistakes he'd made with Kim- the way he'd let himself get so wrapped up in her. But his ponderings extended beyond that, all the mistakes he'd made and the girls he'd hardly given a chance: There was his wedding mystery kiss with that beautiful bridesmaid; Ellie, his college girlfriend, that had broken up with him because he seemed "distracted"; there was Maggie, who was now married to one of Alex's best friends and commonly claimed that Alex had never made his move. And this brought him back to Kim.

Oh Kim. Kim had tainted Alex's view of women. It was almost as though Alex now regarded women through some sort of distorted pair of goggles. They were no longer angelic creatures- they were manipulative and conniving. Women's innocence was gone for Alex. Women could never be well intentioned. All thanks to Kim.

Alex was so consumed by his thoughts that he sought refuge in Klein's. The place was oddly deserted… or perhaps, not so oddly- for most bars are bereft at noon on a Tuesday. But Greg was there and the bar was filled with enough alcohol to make even Alex forget.

However, only the inverse seemed possible for Alex. Some people have the theory that the best way to remember what happened while you were drunk is to get drunk again. Alex was by no means drunk, but that slice of whiskey running through his veins let flashes of vulnerability consume him. His wall fell down and memories of his night with Andy poured out of him like blood through an open wound.

"You look like you could use something stronger," Greg commented watching Alex with a grim expression as he cleaned glasses with a damp white towel.

Alex lifted his head. To be perfectly honest he'd forgotten the man was there. "What to do you have that's stronger than whiskey?"

The bartender contemplated Alex's question for a moment and set down his towel and mug. "More whiskey," he concluded finally and grabbed a large bottle from beneath the counter, pouring himself a glass before refilling Alex's. He left the bottle on the counter, not bothering to put it away just yet. "Don't worry, it'll take more than that."

Greg took a long drawl of whiskey and leaned against the counter. He sighed, smacked his lips, and took another sip. "There was a time, not too long ago, that I used to sit here and do this with Klein himself."

"Klein is a real guy?" Alex asked as he studied the bottom of his quickly emptied glass. The way the light reflected through the thick glass was oddly interesting at that moment.

Greg nodded and filled up Alex's glass again. "Drink it slower," he commanded gently. "The effect is the same, no matter the speed. Feel it burn, that's the real poison- the pain that comes before."

Alex drew his next swig and let the alcohol pinch the back of his throat as he swallowed it down. It burned a hole in his throat, but, amazingly, it helped. It was as if a little bit of Alex's mind slipped out that hole and he felt better without it.

"Disturbing, isn't it?" Greg had leaned closer and slowly gulped his own drink. "How do some things only seem to hurt when you think about them?" He finished off his drink, but didn't bother to pour himself another; he slowly labored behind the counter, shuffling bottles that Alex couldn't see, then picked back up his mug and towel once again.

Alex shook his head and pressed the cool glass against his temple. He didn't know what he was doing here with this man. He should have been at Jim's drinking a sweet mixture of coffee and chatting lazily with Kara about New York. But Alex hardly seemed to care about New York anymore and in the back of his mind he knew exactly why he was there with Greg. He was waiting for the final story about Andy; the one no had been told yet and Greg seemed to have it.

"Did you ever hear the tale of Klein?" Greg asked slowly. Alex shook his head; that wasn't the story he wanted, but if Greg deemed it important, Alex had nothing better to occupy him.

"Everyone thought Klein was a local here, but he wasn't. He was just so old that hardly anyone remembered a time before he was here in Selma. Klein, or his real name- Stewart, was born outside of this town; but after traveling abroad, namely Zaire, he couldn't stay in New York, where he was from, anymore and decided he needed to find a quieter place to lay his roots." Alex listened closely. Greg was a horrible story-teller, but the silent bar let Greg's voice drift slowly into Alex's mind and echo around. There was no more Kim in there, just Greg's story.

"Klein hadn't wanted to live in Selma, he actually had his heart set on Florida, but he passed through one night and never left."

"Why?" Alex asked as he gulped another burning sip of whiskey.

"Why does any man do something stupid? A woman, what else?" Greg cocked his head to the side and smiled briefly. Alex knew that smile- it was an Andy smile and almost every man had one. "Her name was Bonnie and she was the daughter of the mayor. Bonnie was kind of an amazing woman. She had dreams about seeing the world and Klein already had- so they hit it off immediately."

"And then?"

"She showed him things about the world that Klein never would have found himself, no matter how far he traveled. She had her own way about everything and the world just seemed to fall into the palms of her hands. She would have made an impression no matter where she ended up. But Bonnie had hopes, and Klein loved her for them, but Klein underestimated her determination. Her father had kept her in this little boxy town for so long and Bonnie wasn't the kind of girl you can hold down. Like I said, she wanted to see the world."

"And did she?"

"Klein didn't want her to. Klein wanted her to stay there too and marry him. No one really knows how Bonnie felt about Klein. She left before the story ever reached the locals."

"What? She just left?" Alex was confused. What was the point of this story?

"Of course not." Greg picked up another mug and began to clean that one as well. Alex gestured impatiently for him to finish the story.

"So what happened?"

"That's the part that you're not ready to hear yet. I think I'm the only one that Klein told and someday I'll tell you, but not today." Greg refilled Alex's glass as Alex stared at him in minor shock. What was the object of that anecdote?

"Obviously," Alex spoke eventually, after yet another slow glass of whiskey. "Obviously she didn't love him."

"You think?" Greg asked curiously, even though he knew the answer.

Alex nodded and drew another sip. "She would have stayed if she had. It didn't matter what else she wanted from life, love would have overcome that."

Greg regarded the slightly slurring Alex with mingled pity. "Either way. Klein stayed. He opened a bar- this bar- determined to drink away the one that got away. I don't think his sorrow ever got too far though. He was a bitter old man when I met him two years ago, wondering into this little bar with a broken heart of my own."

Alex hardly listened to the conclusion of Greg's tale. "Either way?" he asked, still contemplating Greg's words. "What other way is there? What else could have happened to Bonnie?"

Greg's expression was still tinged with minute pity, but also etched with an astounding amount of understanding. "Do you really not see? It's the most obvious answer of them all."

"And you?" Alex prodded. "What are you still doing here?"

Greg lifted Alex's glass, finishing it swiftly and skirting the empty glass away from the counter and out of sight before Alex could protest. "Waiting for Bonnie to come back."

* * *

Kill the Moonlight, Stab the Sun 

Friday, March 18

Mood: Goofy

Music: This Year's Love; David Gray

Hello Cleveland! I've got a pretty sweet set-up here. I easily got a job as a bartender at a place that is literally named "The Dive Bar." I suppose the owner thought it was funny.

Either way, it's a popular place, so I make good tips, and there's this band that seems to play here every night, and, when they're not playing, they chill out by the bar and take their turns chatting me up. They're a funny group of early twenties that make me laugh. They're pretty sure that any day they'll make it big, but I just tell them that they shouldn't expect any big breaks. If they want success they need to go out and get it rather than just playing the same club every night hoping that someone will discover them. They're actually not bad. I could see them going somewhere.

They're amazing guys… my personal favorite is Drew. He's the lead singer and the boy's got a voice that even makes me forget myself. He sits there for hours with me, after the rest of the band has wondered off with their respective girlfriends, and talks with me until I force him to leave. Drew Lestretch. I'm pretty sure one day that'll be a household name with a voice like his.

He's sweet too. He actually values my opinion. I told him he should change the name of the band. They're the "Boys from the Block." It's a horrible name, isn't it? Like "New Kids on the Block." He asked me if I had a better name. I told him it should be a name with mystery so that they can be asked about it in interviews and have a funny story to tell. I suggested "Antigua's Fishbowl." He asked me why. I told him that, if anyone ever asks, he can say that Antigua was an ex-girlfriend that used to talk to her pet goldfish. He laughed and said he'd consider that. I told him when he became famous that he has to name his first CD after me.

He asks me everyday if I'll play for him. I've been considering this. I haven't had a proper performance in a while. Maybe Drew could convince me at some point. I've become rather protective of my music lately. I put my whole world on my sleeve when I sing and I hate the way it makes me feel so vulnerable. Don't you ever wonder what the world would think of me if I let them see?

I made a secret call to Claire and bit my tongue as she rambled on about how she thought things with Tanner might actually work out this time. Leave it to Claire to make a mismatched puzzle piece fit. I swear one day I'm going to take that girl away from that damn bubble. That town will eat your soul and Claire just sits there everyday waiting for someone to come save her. Don't you know that you can't just wait around for a happy ending? The world has six billion people. Does she think that the right one will just wonder onto her path? No way Hon! You got to go find him. Find that man that makes the rest of the world melt away. An endless search thus far… but I'll find my place someday.

So far, I quite like Cleveland. Drew proves to be promising, if not a bit young. Hopes are high, but my mind is elsewhere. But… I'd rather not talk about _that_.

I wonder if Drew is as good of a kisser as he is a singer…

Coming to a town near you,

Andy Holly

* * *

On Thursday afternoon, Tanner showed up with an invitation to the Holly's for dinner. Mixed reactions rang through the Daniels household. Mrs. Daniels was excited beyond belief. Hank seemed unfazed. Alex wasn't quite as excited as he would have been a week before, but he would get to see Ben for the last time and Bryan would probably be there too so the night wouldn't be completely fruitless. But Stella's reaction was the most amusing of them all. The instant the news reached her ears: she purpled in anger, screamed at the top of her lungs and pronounced that she wasn't going. 

Come Thursday night, Alex, Tanner, Hank, Mrs. Daniels and a very obtuse Stella piled into Hank's SUV and set off for the Holly's house. The night started out quite simply. Ben and Bryan were watching a Braves game while Carolynn, Claire and Mrs. Holly were cooking in the kitchen. Mrs. Daniels quickly joined the women in the kitchen. Hank occupied the empty La-Z-boy in the den and Tanner quickly took the final seat on the sofa. Carolynn pulled a Cosmopolitan magazine out of her designer purse and consumed herself with the immaculate magazine, only breaking her concentration to sporadically glare at Ben, who merely pretended she wasn't there.

This left Alex to either create a seat for himself in the den out of thin air, or find something else to occupy himself. Honestly, Alex refused to watch any baseball team besides the Yankees. (He wouldn't even have participated in that much, if he wasn't afraid that Peter, one of his best friends, would disown him for hating baseball.) Because of this, Alex decided he'd sit in the kitchen and maybe help out a little. He sat at the kitchen table while Carolynn busied herself with the exact same magazine that Stella was reading in the den, ignoring the frantic dispositions of the other women. Claire was stirring a large bowl of pasta and another pot of red sauce at the same time. Mrs. Daniels and Mrs. Holly were discussing their children while viciously chopping vegetables.

"Alex," Mrs. Daniels said in surprise when she finally noticed Alex sitting quietly at the table. "Can we get you anything?"

Alex shook his head and shrugged. "No. I'm good. Can I help at all?" Poor Alex still believed in chivalry.

Carolynn looked up from her magazine without bothering to hide her disgust. Claire turned from the stove and shook her head viciously; making jabbing motions at her throat with a wooden spoon to indicate that he should get out while he still could.

"Oh honey!" Mrs. Daniels sighed. "That's so sweet, but why don't you just go watch the game with the other boys."

Alex considered leaving, but he liked sitting in the quieter kitchen listening to the two women boast and the water boil. "I'd like to help. I promise I won't mess up."

Mrs. Holly dropped her knife and began to pull a sack of potatoes out of the pantry while Mrs. Daniels gushed about what a sweet boy Alex was. Mrs. Holly handed Alex the potatoes and a peeler with specific instructions on what to do. Alex quickly explained that he was no novice at making mashed potatoes, which only served to make Mrs. Holly a bit disgruntled that he wouldn't take her advice.

Alex peeled the potatoes with ease while the women all returned to their activities. Alex quite liked cooking. As a kid he would hide out in the kitchen with Anna while his father silently read the newspaper in their living room. Anna would teach him all sorts of amazing recipes. Alex made delicious breads and pastries, but he hardly had time for things like that anymore. Sometimes he would cook for Kim, but she was vegan and too unappreciative for him to even bother. Over the last three years he'd given up all kinds of cooking and been forced into trendy restaurants to pay way too much for way too little.

"I just don't know what that girl is thinking sometimes," Mrs. Daniels sighed while Alex peeled potato after potato. "I love Andy to death. She's like a second daughter to me, but sometimes I wonder where her loyalties lay. To just leave like that…"

Mrs. Holly kept her mouth firmly shut while Claire jumped to her twin's aid. "Oh she's just a bit lost, Debbie."

"Well I know that," Mrs. Daniels jumped. "And I'm all for finding what makes you happy, but after six years in this same way, you'd think she'd have found it by now."

"She'll never find it out there, that's for sure," Mrs. Holly bit back with an underlying sting of bitterness. "It's a big world and easy to get lost."

"Momma, you know Andy needs to find her own way." Claire had stopped stirring her pasta as they discussed Andy and, in her distraction, she hadn't noticed the water for the pasta boiling over. Alex quickly pointed this out to her while Carolynn pulled herself away from her magazine long enough to snort derogatively at Claire's comment.

"The only way Andy will find, is the way to prison."

"What about her music?" Mrs. Daniels asked, ignoring Carolynn. "Is she still pursuing that?"

Claire shook her head while Mrs. Holly replied, "I don't think she ever pursued it."

Mrs. Daniels sighed sadly as she tossed some lettuce for a salad. "Sometimes I worry about that girl."

"She'll be fine." Claire smiled and forced her mother to taste her sauce before she proclaimed it perfect. "Just like the rest of us."

Eventually, Hank wondered into the kitchen groaning at them about how hungry he was and the relaxed kitchen atmosphere was broken. Alex finished his potatoes- enough to feed the entire county. Claire finally managed to force Carolynn to put down her magazine and set the table, and the entire family took their seats- Stella making sure to take the one farthest from Carolynn.

It was mass chaos while each person tried to serve themselves. Hank carved the giant Turkey that Mrs. Holly had been making all afternoon, only managing to send a few little pieces flying into the air in his efforts. Bryan entertained them with stories from the high school, where he worked as a sophomore English teacher, about his suspicions that his coworker, Ned, was actually an alien or a government operative. He managed to force Tanner to choke on his Turkey when he recounted the time he was so sure that Ned had changed form to imitate Mrs. Klinger, the librarian, that he'd told all his students to never enter the library again.

It was a startlingly smooth meal. Ben gave Alex a very unwanted play-by-play from the game. Tanner explained his new project in the city, doing some remodeling on the Central Park Zoo. Stella gruntingly replied to all of Mrs. Holly's queries about working at the country club. Alex's only real contribution to conversation was asking about the tale of Klein and Bonnie that he'd recently heard from Greg; the table only grew quiet after this question and the topic was quickly changed.

Yes, dinner was going quite well… until Carolynn and Ben decided to make an announcement.

"Everyone, we have an announcement," Ben said ominously, while Carolynn tried desperately not to hide her smile. She wore it around like a crown and the words hardly needed to be spoken before the entire table understood what they were about to say. "We're havin' a baby-"

"You nasty whore!" Stella shouted so quickly that the end of Ben's sentence was clipped off. Bryan's jaw had dropped the moment he understood what Ben was saying, and, as soon as Stella interjected, the rest of the table's jaws did the same. "I cannot believe you are doing this to me!" She was staring directly at Carolynn while the rest of the table stared at her.

"Stella-" Mrs. Daniels began to chastise her daughter, but this matter far surpassed a mother's rigid tone.

"I don't see how my pregnancy affects you!" Carolynn shot back, meeting Stella's glare head-on.

"You stole my fiancé! You stole my life and now you're stealing my baby!" Stella sounded like an obstinate child complaining about her presents on Christmas day. Even Alex had the urge to slap her.

Ben yelled, "Would you just shut up, Stella, and get over it already?" just as Carolynn snapped, "You were never even engaged, you mad cow!"

Stella glared, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her stiff wooden chair. "You stole everything from me Carolynn and I'm not just going to sit here and let you. Ben was mine!"

"I'm not some sort of possession!" Ben shouted, but he was ignored as soon as Carolynn spoke.

Carolynn mirrored Stella's stance, except her own glare had a note of triumph mingled in. "You are literally insane." Carolynn's tone was even and hard, not shouting like Ben was. "You were the one that broke up with him when you went off to college, hoping to land the next millionaire's son you could get your hands on. Earth to Stella, idiot, next time- don't go to an all-girls school!"

"We didn't brake up!" Stella snapped back. All heads at the table bounced back and forth between the two girls- except Bryan's, who had his head buried in his hands on the table. "It was just a break! I loved him for four years, Carolynn, and you brainwashed him against me."

"Is that so?" Carolynn asked sneering at Stella. "Then why were you cheatin' on Ben throughout all of high school with Tommy Zipperman?"

Stella paled considerably. "That's not true!" she shouted in her own defense. Tanner snorted. Stella was obviously lying. There are no secrets in small towns.

"You never would have given Ben a second thought if you hadn't come home to find out he was with me. Outside of jealousy, you don't even care about the whole thing. Jealousy and bitterness that you're still a washed up slut that lives with her parents and hasn't had a boyfriend in the last three years!"

Claire turned bright pink. (Was it wrong to still live with your parents?) Tanner noticed this and quickly jumped into the conversation, ending it with a booming "Shut up!" He turned to his sister. "Stella, the past is done. Move on!" He turned to Carolynn. "Carolynn, don't purposely start fights," he boomed. "Like I said the past is over. Oh and congratulations," he added as an afterthought, although it came across oddly because he was so riled up that he was still shouting.

"'I'll shut up when she shuts up," Carolynn sneered eventually, breaking a prolonged silence.

Stella did the same and repeated exactly what Carolynn said, except with a derogatory, mocking tone and an extra, "You slutty whore."

"Shut up!" Claire shouted as their bickering broke out again. "Both of you should just grow up," she added, softer as the room rang with silence.

The room was quiet as Tanner beamed proudly at Claire, all four parents sat with their mouths agape and Bryan still had his face concealed in his hands.

"So?" Alex asked after draining his glass of wine. Alex seemed to be drinking more than usual lately. He had finally figured out why Southerners had a reputation of alcoholism. "Have you picked any names yet?" he asked, trying awkwardly to fill the silence.

His words set the girls off again and, with their arguing, the room seemed to explode with noise. Ben repeatedly yelled out, "Ladies!" every time one of the girls shouted something particularly vindictive. Mrs. Holly cried out in quick succession, "My children are a curse upon society!" Hank crunched loudly on a stock of celery he'd pulled out of the salad, watching the scene as if it were a common occurrence. Tanner and Claire tried feebly to quiet each of their siblings, but merely served to anger each of their sisters even more. Bryan finally gave up on hiding his face and stood up so forcefully that his chair came clanking to the floor as he stomped out of the room. Mrs. Daniels loudly sobbed over her heathen daughter. And Alex… Alex laughed under his breath.

So this was what real family dinners were like... Alex had never known. Dinner at his house had always been quiet and stiff, each person wondering how long they had to stay before they were allowed to be excused. He couldn't wait to tell Pamela about it. She'd be over the moon to hear that her favorite Soap Operas weren't all that far from reality… only with a Southern accent.

* * *

Alex and Tanner had an early flight Saturday morning, so on Friday afternoon Alex decided to get his packing over with. He finished relatively quickly, but Tanner hadn't even started. Tanner had spent the entire morning in the Holly-Woods with Claire, soaking up their last morning together before he had to go back to reality. 

Alex was slightly relieved. He'd grown a bit bored over the last week and would be glad to go back to his life, where there were no surprise arguments that only ended when one of the girls was literally dragged home by her older brother, or mysterious girls made out with you one night then disappeared into thin air. Most people are sad to go back home after vacation, but Alex took comfort in his life and the regularity of it. It was always hard for him to break his mold and step out of his comfort zone. He'd had fun, but he couldn't wait to get home.

His time in Alabama had been revealing and entertaining. He'd met people he never would have met. He learned how to understand an accent that had previously left him baffled. He'd heard a whole town's stories. He learned their takes on life and their appreciation for the little things. He'd learned that, when the sun sets over the Alabama River, the whole river seems to glow with all the tension from that day. He'd learned that you don't need an expensive fishing pole to catch a fish, but you do need to talk to them sometimes so they know that you mean them no harm. He learned that twins are hardly the same person. He learned that small town girls pass around the same guys like a game of hot potato.

Overall, it had been most informative.

Despite all these crucial lessons, his time in Alabama was yet to end and lessons were still knocking on his door. Quite literally; someone was knocking on Alex's bedroom door just as he finished shoving all his dirty clothes haphazardly into his suitcase and had zipped it up.

In all truth it was the last woman Alex ever expected to see standing at his bedroom door. Claire Holly. Alex merely saw Claire as her sister's opposite. They were ying and yang to him. Claire was sweet and well tempered; Andy was irrational and intentionally hurtful. Alex saw Andy as the spider that bitter men had painted her to be, but there was one person that knew Andy for what she was and that person just happened to be standing at Alex's door as he opened it.

"Hi there," she said brightly, her smile revealing a bit of an awkward reluctance. "Are you busy?" she asked slowly, while Alex recovered from his shock.

Alex shook his head. "Nope. Just finished packing."

"Oh." Claire seemed like she was itching with information and looking for the perfect outlet to reveal her mystery. "Well… Tanner and I were just talkin' and he mentioned that you hadn't been to the Gap yet. And, well, he has to pack, but you can't come to Alabama without seeing the Gap. So I figured I'd take you- If you want to go, that is." Claire was obviously nervous. Alex had rarely seen people ramble quite so quickly. He briefly wondered what was freaking her out so much. His curiosity had been captured and he readily agreed to her little escapade.

Claire drove the exact opposite of her sister. Andy was a bit of a maniac, taking fast turns and breaking speed limits without a thought of the dangers. Claire was slow and cautious. Alex thought this was a good thing, considering the fact that her beat-up yellow Beetle seemed to be hanging by a thread.

"So, did you enjoy Selma?" she asked politely trying to fill the silence that Andy would have filled with her radio. Claire had no car radio. There was just a giant hole in her dashboard where the radio should have been. "Never mind. No one ever has fun in Selma."

"No I did," Alex reassured her quickly. "It's an interesting place."

"Interesting? I suppose that describes it," she replied with a smile. They both understood that "interesting" pointed obviously at the cat fight that had broken-out the night before. "Although, Andy would never describe it as such," she dropped in there.

Alex finally caught on. "Claire?" he asked suspiciously with an eyebrow raised. "What's this really about?" He didn't feel like he had the energy to beat around the bush and wait awkwardly for Claire to get around to her point. He knew what she wanted to talk about: Andy.

"What do you mean?" Claire, however, was not a direct person. She wasn't brash or temperamental.

Alex watched her for a moment as she drove. She seemed slightly flustered. Was it worth it to be polite and allow her to get herself all worked up? "This obviously isn't about the Gap," he pointed out.

"Possibly," Claire dodged. She quietly drove. "So what did you think about my sister? Andy. Not Carolynn. I probably already know what you think of Carolynn."

"You probably already know what I think of Andy then, too."

Claire shot him a quick look before she focused on the road. Oh yes, she knew. Claire was very perceptive and she'd caught the way Alex's ears perked up every time Andy was mentioned or the way he slowly slipped out of their company after Andy had left. She also knew her sister well enough to know that something had obviously happened between the two of them. "That's exactly what she would have said." Another long silence. "She's really not as horrible as you probably think. A lot of those guys talk about her like she's some sort of monster, but she's not. A bit lost and confused, but not a monster."

"I believe the common term is 'Spider.'"

"Ah, the Black Widow. The boys used to make so much fun of her for that. She'd get really upset- but she'd kill me if they knew that," she added hastily. "A lot of guys around here have had the blunt end of a stick from Andy. Most of which was unintentional, but they carry their own little grudges. People say women talk about each other behind their backs, but men can be just as vindictive."

"So you're saying that all the stories I've heard about Andy aren't true?"

"No. But don't let anyone tell you what to think about Andy. She's not a bad person. She's not really a spider." Claire was determined to set Alex straight, but subtle enough that she had no intention of smacking Alex upside the head with information. She believed that, in time, Alex would discover the Andy that lay beneath layers of distractions. The Andy that Claire knew and loved.

Alex thought about this. To be perfectly honest, Andy Holly made more sense as a spider. She was easier to justify as a heartbreaker. She was easier to understand as a girl that purposely avoided responsibility. "Then what is she?"

"She's Andy. She's funny and goofy and just one of the guys. But secretly she's a romantic. Secretly she hopes the next guy she meets could be the one that makes her life worthwhile. She thinks that somewhere in the world the clouds will part and there will be a perfect little town where she can spend the rest of her life in beautiful happiness. That's all she really wants: To find where she belongs. But in the end, Andy belongs everywhere. The whole world deserves a taste of Andy, and what man would want to be responsible for taking that away?"

Claire suddenly pulled into a little alcove right off the road and parked in a makeshift parking lot. She smiled briefly at Alex before getting out of her car and walking to the edge of the parking lot. Alex quickly followed her down a short path through thick woods that suddenly broke apart revealing a huge gap where the earth just seemed to end. If the world was flat, this was one of its edges.

Alex stared down into it. The drop seemed to last for days and the steepness of it made him take a step back, just in case the world slipped out from under him. It had a tendency to do that.

"Beautiful isn't it?" She watched his awe. "Like a black hole in the middle of the world. It seems to go on forever. It spins you around and only it seems to know where it's going to spit you out. It's like the world is collapsing on itself; an inch for every soul that never found its way; spreading out across the world until it has it all and everything is nothing. The Gap is a philosophy all on its own. The Gap… This is Andy's heaven; her favorite place in the world. Like her own personal black hole. Andy is like the Gap. Everyone should get to experience her. Everyone should behold, no one can ever understand. They unintentionally destroy everything around them because they need to survive; they need to grow. They need the world at their fingertips."

Alex stared into the pit. He stared and stared, trying desperately to see the bottom. He stared into the Gap for what seemed like hours before he was finally ready to take his eyes away. In all truth he could have gazed at it for hours and never gotten bored. But pitching a tent right there along the wooded path didn't seem like the appropriate way to spend the rest of his life, so he slowly climbed back into Claire's car with only a memory to keep him warm. He turned to Claire. "Where does it end?"

"Everywhere. Just like Andy."

* * *

Alabama was finally behind them, but Tanner stared out the window of their airplane blankly, as if his brain had been left behind. He watched the world shrink away beneath him with the same morbid fascination that Alex had regarded the Gap the day before. To be perfectly honest, Alex was a bit bored with it. 

"Dude, you didn't honestly want to stay did you?" he asked Tanner in exasperation. Tanner had been sulking ever since they'd left his parent's house.

Tanner shook his head and looked away from the window. "No. Just wondering when I'll come back."

"Come back?" Alex had been sure that Tanner's foreign behavior was going to end when their plane left the ground, just like it had begun the day their plane had hit the runway. Obviously, this theory was moot. "You've barely even left yet."

"I know. I just missed it more than I thought."

"Tanner! When we get back to New York this will all just be some sort of bad dream. We'll both move on, go back to work and forget the whole thing."

"Someone sounds bitter. What's got your panties in a twist?" Tanner was staring out the window again. He didn't bother to look at Alex. He knew exactly what Alex's face would look like. Alex wore the same expression every time he was thinking. His eyebrows were creased together, his eyes were unfocused, and his lips would be pressed tightly together. Occasionally, he'd rub his temples and sometimes, if his thoughts were particularly frustrating, he'd clench his jaw and close his eyes.

"Nothing, I'm just ready for things to go back to normal." In his frustration, he unconsciously rubbed his temples and clenched his jaw. "You should be too. Things with Claire may be great out there in la-la-land, Tanner, but you should remember that relationships like that never work in the real world."

Tanner stared at his best friends with both eyebrows peaked. There were odd traces of amusement etched into the corners of his eyes and mouth. He knew his friend's pain. He understood the effect particular girls had, and in a weird way he was surprised by Alex's reaction to it. He'd predicted it; he understood it and all its consequences; but it was still horribly ironic to find that Alex Crink had been torn to pieces by a girl that hadn't even liked him. "We'd do best to just forget them, I think," Tanner said with a smile that was hidden as he stared out the window.

Unfortunately, Alex refused to note the sarcasm.

_

* * *

_

_Unfortunately, I return to school in exactly one week (plus a day that hardly counts- We start school on Fridays in Florida) which means I'll have a lot of other things on my mind- although I promise I'll do my best to keep up with my updates. Senior year! I'm very excited even if I have no clue where I'll end up a year from now. Hopefully somewhere I like more than here. I feel a lot of Andy's pain having to live in a town that just seems to cage her in. I feel a bit stuck sometimes, but freedom is near and I can't wait! _

_What's this? An entire Author's Note without any character analyzing? MIRACULOUS! Thus ends what I like to call the "Alabama Chapters." Although, the end will take place in Alabama… Anyway, I'm really excited about the next part. New York has a lot of adventures for Alex and his friends (Hal, Peter, Daniel and Tanner) are a very amusing group. Unfortunately, I might have to boost my rating soon. Hal is a bit of a scandalous character, and I refuse to censor him, so be weary of lewd conduct and profound profanity. We're entering boy world here… and I find it highly amusing._

_Yay! Hay! Review-ay! (That was my attempt at being catchy… sorry.)_

_P.S. I wouldn't have been able to get this up in the morning, but technically it's still Thursday seeing as it's 12:36 am. Fancy that._


	8. Prayin' For Daylight

_This Chap is dedicated to Rascal Flatts. May their harmonies forever rival N'Sync. ;)_

_**Love to the Tune of a Country Song**_

"Prayin' for daylight  
Hoping that I didn't wait too long  
(I didn't wait too long)  
That this is just the dark before the dawn

"Deep in my heart I know  
That you love me as much as I love you  
And that you must be lying somewhere  
Looking up to Heaven too

"Prayin' for daylight, waiting for that morning sun  
So I can act like my whole life ain't going wrong  
Baby come back to me, I swear I'll make it right  
Don't make me spend another lonely night  
Prayin' for daylight"

-Rascal Flatts; _"Prayin' for Daylight"_

* * *

Now things were returning to normal for the boy, but maybe normal was no longer good enough. Maybe normal wasn't quite what he wanted anymore. But the boy smiled and moved on because he didn't know what else to do. He didn't even know there was something wrong. He just thought it would all go away eventually. 

And the girl was on the ropes as well. The girl remembered what she was running from and took off full speed. She was even more determined than ever. She was driven… but all that drive can hardly last forever when you have no goal in mind…

* * *

Alex had been home an entire half an hour before he had unpacked. He slowly sat in his favorite La-Z-boy and reclined, relaxing into the sweet cushions that melded into his body and allowed everything to escape him with a simple sigh. He would lie like that for hours, just soaking in the pure simplicity of it all… or it least he would have if someone wasn't pounding on his apartment door. 

He opened it, reluctantly, to face Peter. Peter was a typical man. He liked video games, clipping his toenails and listening to ACDC with his stereo on full blast… or at least he did before he got married. Just about five years ago, Alex Crink had been introduced to Peter Holden by Maggie Intell. Alex and Maggie had been friends since she'd began working for his company soon after Alex started it and, soon after she realized Alex was a daft moron with no intention of ever making a move, she met Peter. Peter and Maggie had hit it off right away. They'd quickly fallen in love and after two years of a relationship, by which point Alex was dating Maggie's baby sister- Kim, they decided to get married. Peter loved Maggie more than anything in the world… except possibly Allie, his four month old daughter.

"Dude, I need a place to stash my porn." Peter quickly pushed his way into Alex's apartment and set a giant box full of unimaginable artifacts on Alex's clean glass table.

"Hello to you too, Pete." Alex closed the door and turned to Peter, hoping desperately that this was all some sort of sick joke.

"Yeah, yeah. Nice to see you. How was your trip? And all that other useless chatter," Peter stated lackadaisically. "Now, can I hide my porn here or not?"

Alex bit back a laugh, but the humor in the situation seemed to die as soon as Alex realized this was not, in fact, a joke. "Why do you want to hide your porn here?" he asked slowly.

Peter rolled his eyes. This was obviously something he wasn't too happy about. "Maggie says she doesn't like it in the apartment because she thinks its mere existence might affect Allie psychologically or some other crap to that effect. She said to destroy it, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. So now I'm here asking- nay begging for you to let me stash my porn in your apartment!"

"Why _my_ apartment?" Alex didn't know why, but he was still talking quite slowly. Maybe the situation just had him a bit taken-aback.

Peter made yet another exasperated noise. "Because you're the only single guy I know besides Hal- and I don't trust him with it. Knowing Hal, he'll use it and I just can't handle the idea of another man getting his kicks from my porn."

Alex stared at him. Was that supposed to be some sort of justification?

"Oh c'mon Al! I just need a place to keep it until Maggie forgets it exists and I can find a better hiding spot in my apartment!"

Alex still didn't understand how he was expected to agree to this, but Peter took advantage of Alex's prolonged silence to create an answer of his own. "Oh thanks Al! You're the best. Now do you want me to keep it hidden away with your stash, do you have a place where I could hide it, or can I just put it anywhere since you broke up with your amazingly hot girlfriend?"

Alex didn't know which part of that statement he should question first, so he just picked one randomly. "Dude? Did you just say that your sister-in-law is hot?"

Peter shrugged and picked back up his giant box. "It's not like the whole world didn't know already."

"Too true," a third voice said from behind them. There sat Hal, lazily in Alex's La-Z-Boy already snapping open a can of beer and taking a prolonged sip. Hal was an interesting person: a womanizer, a lair, a cheater, a proud member of Sex-Aholics Anonymous, a lawyer and, unfortunately, Alex's cousin. "So who are we talking about?" Hal had already located Alex's remote and absently flicked Alex's TV to Sports Center while Peter disappeared back toward Alex's bedroom, box in hand, and Alex stared at him agape.

"How did you get in here?" Alex asked incredulously.

"A key," Hal replied not even taking his eyes off the TV.

"Where did you get my key?"

Hal shrugged and took another swig of beer. "You didn't give it to me?"

Alex shook his head quickly, which went unnoticed by Hal, who was still focused intently on the TV. "No I did not!"

Hal burped and drank more beer- two of his favorite pastimes. "Huh," he grunted. "That's weird."

"Okay dude I just put it with yours," Peter shouted as he came out of Alex's hallway.

"How do you even know where I keep mine?" Alex asked, his incredulity switching quickly from one friend to the other like lightening darting across the sky.

Peter shrugged. "I thought everyone knew where you kept your porn," he stated matter-of-factly.

Hal held up his hand that held his beer can, as if raising his hand for a teacher to call on him. "Under the loose floorboard next to his bed."

"How do you know that?"

"Oh c'mon Alex. It's not exactly a secret," Peter sighed as he too took a seat in front of the TV.

"Kim told me," Hal said.

"Kim knew? Are you kidding me!" Alex was a bit shocked, not to mention exhausted from his trip and neither of those qualities were fetching on him.

Hal shrugged. "It's not like it matters anymore. Not now that you've broken up with the hottest woman I've ever seen in real life… outside of that time I think I saw Carmen Elektra at the movie theater."

"It was not Carmen Elektra!" Peter protested.

"Would you two stop calling my ex-girlfriend hot?" Alex pleaded.

Hal just ignored Alex. "It was _so_ Carmen Elektra."

"Dude, why would Carmen Elektra be at a movie theatre?" Peter asked. He too hardly noticed that Alex was there.

"Famous people go to movie theatres too, you know." Hal flipped the channel. "Sweet, Discovery Channel." Hal wouldn't even be kidding if he told you that Discovery Channel was his absolute favorite.

Peter's favorite, on the other hand, was ESPN and he made an obnoxious point for Hal to change it back. "Famous people may go to the movies, but amazingly hot people do not."

"What do they do instead, then?" Hal asked, turning up the volume so he could hear the narration of some obnoxious show about gazelles. He was slightly disappointed that this was on- because he'd seen it and they don't show the gazelles getting it on at all- but he refused to change the channel just to make Peter angry.

"They have sex," Peter pointed out casually.

Hal stopped, mid-sip of beer, and shrugged. "Yeah, that's probably right."

"How do you two ever have girlfriends?" Alex asked as he numbly observed their exchange.

Hal just shrugged again. "We don't."

Peter checked his watch and stood from the sofa. "But we do have wives and said wives think that I'm just popping out to the grocery store, so I better get going." Peter had only been there for five minutes, but his sudden departures had become so common, after his marriage, that the guys had grown accustomed to them.

He left as quickly as he came, and, as soon as the door closed behind him, Hal changed the channel back to ESPN. "Speak for himself. Heaven only knows why people get married," Hal muttered as he took another long sip of his beer, finishing it off and crushing the can.

"You are the height of class," Alex drawled sarcastically.

"Thanks," Hal muttered back, finally turning to face Alex for the first time. As soon as his eyes lay upon Alex, they lit up as if he'd finally just recognized him. "Dude!" he shouted excitedly, jumping from the La-Z-Boy immediately. "You met a girl!"

"What?" Alex asked, flabbergasted.

"I can sense these things Alex," Hal said, nodding back knowingly before his eyes lit up with another idea. "Did you have sex?"

"What?" If it was possible, Alex sounded even more shocked. "No! And I didn't meet a girl. You are officially insane."

"Right," Hal drawled in disbelief. He winked quickly at his cousin and sat back in the La-Z-Boy. Eventually he turned back to Alex. "It's really a shame that you didn't, because I did."

Alex smiled, but only a fraction. "So?" he asked. "How long have you been waiting to drop that into the conversation?"

Hal cocked his head to the side. "Since the moment I first got here. I considered just shouting it as loud as I could the moment I walked through the door, but you hadn't noticed that I was here so I thought it'd be more fun to freak you out a bit."

"And was it worth it?"

"The sex?" Hal asked back, completely misunderstanding where Alex was heading with his question. This tended to happen quite a bit when sex was involved in the conversation- Hal always seemed to have trouble getting off that topic. "Hell yes. It was sex after all… and with me nonetheless. You can bet it was a bit more than worth it." With this Hal winked again, balled up his fist and thrusted it suggestively in front of him. "If you know what I mean…"

Alex merely hung his head in shame. "Hal, we seriously need to work on your innuendos."

"In-whose-endos?"

Ah. It was good to be home.

* * *

Eadie Hargrove had been Alex's secretary since he'd first expanded his company as a fresh-faced twenty-four year old. He'd been an innocent little fool with a great idea and Eadie immediately took him under her wing. She created her own system of organization, settled all sorts of paperwork, and commonly balanced Alex's books. She was his savior, basically the sole reason for his success and way more than a secretary. To her, he was another son. 

She liked to look after Alex. Alex was a good kid, and she understood that men like him were one in a million. She wanted what was best for Alex and most of all she wanted to see Alex happy. But Eadie was in for a bit of a shock when Alex returned from his trip to Alabama. He'd only been gone for two weeks, but Eadie sensed an immediate change in her surrogate son. He was quieter than normal. He seemed a bit more contemplative and distracted. She didn't even know what to think when she noticed him staring dazedly out his window, just watching the tiny people below his office run around like ants.

But what worried her most of all was his hours. Alex had always thrown himself full-heartedly into his work, but now he seemed driven to the point of recklessness. He'd been staying until midnight everyday that week and she worried that he'd do it again that night, despite it being poker night with the boys.

She walked into his office, and there he was staring dazedly at his computer screen, but obviously not focusing on it. He was a million miles away and that scared Eadie even more. She coughed softly and his attention snapped back to him and focused on her. "Your messages," she said, trying to smile politely, but she was a bit too worried to concentrate on smiling.

Alex took the small wad of messages from her. "Anna," he read aloud then flipped to the next one. "Hal and Craig Bolten." He looked up at her. "Why is Craig Bolten, of Bolten Internet Securities, calling me?" he asked her curiously.

Eadie shrugged. "He called quite a few times while you were out of town. Perhaps he wants to advertise?" she suggested, but Alex wasn't fooled.

"Bolten's had his advertisers locked for the past ten years. What's he care about a lowly help site?" Alex was staring at the messages card furiously, as if it would sprout a mouth and explain itself. But it didn't, just sat there in his hand, with Eadie's handwriting saying, "Craig Bolten says he'll call again tomorrow." Alex contemplated it over and over again, but every way he thought about it- there was only one explanation for Craig Bolten's call. Alex gulped… hostile takeover.

Eadie coughed again and Alex's attention jumped back to the present. "I think I'm going to head home. You're not going to stay are you?"

Alex shrugged. He'd just figured he'd hang out there for a bit rather than head home to his big, empty apartment.

"Because I think the boys might be mad if you cancel another poker night. In fact, Peter called not too long ago to have me make sure you were going to show up." Eadie wasn't very good at being nonchalant, so she decided to just be direct. "He says they feel weird having poker night at your apartment when you're not there."

"They break into my apartment for poker night?" he asked.

Eadie shrugged. "So it would seem."

"Why don't they just do it at someone else's place for a change?" He didn't know why, but Alex wasn't quite sure he was up for another poker night with the boys. It wasn't that he didn't love poker night and taking all of Hal's money- he just felt so tired and they were so exhausting sometimes.

"I don't know, but if I hear that you spent another night in this office- I will be forced to start locking you out after six every night." Eadie smiled sweetly, flicked off Alex's office light while he was still in the room and walked out, leaving him sitting there in complete darkness.

Eadie smiled to herself as she stood on the elevator. That was more enjoyable than it should have been.

* * *

Kill the Moonlight, Stab the Sun 

Tuesday, March 29

Mood: Digestive

Music: Sunday Morning Song; Howie Day

Oh Cleveland, you've been an adventure.

It's actually quite sad to be going. Drew was nice, but let's face it- where was it going? He was a good kid, but he was just that: a kid. A kid out chasing a dream who didn't need me telling him not to go. I'm leaving, but I'm merely beating him to the punch. No matter how much he liked me, it just wasn't what it should be… I'm beginning to think that nothing ever will be.

Claire sent me an e-mail. She says that Tanner left about two weeks ago and has yet to call her. There it is people. They say every time a bell rings, a girl gets her heart broken. My sister is amazing and Tanner is an idiot for leaving her. I don't know why Claire continues to put herself out there. Tanner broke her into a million pieces when he left for college and basically never came back. He moves to the big city, obviously searching for a world that was better than what Claire could give him. Then he decides to get married. Of course we Holly girls weren't invited. We'd only spent our entire lives together. We'd only been the people that knew him best- but what did that matter now that he was a whole new man?!

Personally, I like to blame Alex Crink. Ever since Tanner met that snooty Backstreet Boy, Tanner had seemed to forget all the people that had once been the most important to him. Stupid Alex became his best friend and Claire and I were long forgotten.

Claire cried for about a month when she found out he was engaged. She was in such a state that my mother even called me to come home and see what I could do. Of course I was there in an instant and I never hated Tanner as much as I did the day I discovered my sister in a heap on our kitchen floor. It took me two weeks just to get her out of the house.

I guess that's why I'm leaving Cleveland. I'll stop by home, in the night, to make sure my Twinny is okay and then I'll go somewhere else. No sense in getting attached to anywhere. A heart is a fragile thing and there's no point in going around throwing it at people and thinking it'll never get broken. You don't throw glass onto the floor then cry when it breaks.

I sang Drew a song today as we closed. Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide." It was kind of good-bye, although he didn't know that at the time. "Till the Landslide brought me down." That's what love is. You think you're at the top and before you know it you're buried under layer upon layer, and right back at the bottom. Sometimes you end up even lower than when you started. Love is synonymous with hurt. They're both four letter words. And so you just have to keep moving and keep running until you forget it even exists. You can't play the "What if" game. You can't always dream about happy endings, because there is no such thing. Life never ends… happiness is fleeting.

My mother never loved my father. My sister hardly bothers to love her husband and now they're having a baby together. What is the world coming to that people use children as a bad-aid for a bad marriage. Why do people lie to themselves? Why do they bore themselves with things they don't even want to do? All my life I promised that I would never stay anywhere that I was unhappy, but here I am absolutely nowhere and I'm still unhappy. Why?

There it is… The "Why" game is even worse than the "What if".

I know why. I am all alone because I push people away. I push people away because I am all alone. I just want to be that feather in _Forrest Gump_. I just want to float on the breeze. I just want to go wherever the wind takes me. I'm a dandelion. My father always told me so. But don't dandelions have to take root eventually?

"Oh Mirror in the sky, what is love?"

Well aren't I quite the existential psychopath. It's not my fault. This is what happens when things fall apart. Oh god, something has shaken me to my very core. Something has left me questioning my very existence. I promise… I'm hardly ever like this.

Yeah. It's definitely time I get out of Cleveland.

Coming to a town near you,

Andy Holly

* * *

By the time Alex wondered into his apartment the guys had already set up their table right there in his living room, split up their chips and dealt the first hand. Alex tried not to show his annoyance, but his next question came out automatically: "Why do you guys break into my apartment rather than just play somewhere else?" He took his seat at the table despite his annoyance. 

Daniel, who was a tall, British structural engineer, rearranged his cards. "Because Peter has a wife, I have a girlfriend, Hal has porn everywhere and Tanner is messy."

"I'm not that messy," Tanner protested, laying his bet.

"Not that messy? When you first told us that Katie left you we thought maybe you'd just lost her in your apartment," Hal said as he too lay a bet- a raise in fact, but not because he had good cards. Hal just liked to raise and the other guys had been playing with him long enough to understand his bluff.

"Oh," Tanner winced. "Too fresh for Katie jokes man."

"Too fresh?" Peter repeated back in shock. "It's been two years, Tanner!" Peter was only feigning shock so that his eyes could wonder to the window placed strategically behind Alex and catch a glimpse of Alex's cards.

Tanner shrugged. "Still, it is hard to get over your wife cheating on you with her aerobics instructor."

Hal shrugged. "It's what you get for being dumb enough to get married."

"Hey," Peter warned. "Marriage isn't all that bad. I mean it has its perks."

"Like what?" Hal asked with doubt.

Peter shrugged and contemplated this for a long time. "Well I can't think of anything right now, but I swear there's at least one thing…"

"How was Alabama?" Daniel asked while Peter tried desperately to create some sort of reason why he liked being married.

Tanner grinned. "Great. Got to meet a lot of old friends and catch up."

"And hook up with his ex," Alex added.

"Yes!" Hal shouted excited. "I knew at least one of my boys would do me proud."

"Do you proud?" Alex asked with derision. "Hal, he was hooking up with his old high school girlfriend."

Hal still seemed quite accomplished. "That's what exes are for Alex. To torture you and later let you get right back in their pants. Sometimes, I wish I had more exes."

"More exes? You've slept with half of Manhattan." Daniel dealt another hand while Peter took all his winnings from the last pot.

"And was only limited to that much because the other half was all men," Tanner added.

Hal shrugged. "Those aren't exes, those are just once upon a times. They only count as exes if you have at least five dates."

"Well in that case," Alex said as he picked up his next hand and studied his cards, "I don't see how you have any exes. You never get past the first date."

"Sometimes two," Hal replied. "Depending on how long it takes me to break them down."

"Or drug them up," Daniel muttered under his breath.

"So what happened with the ex?" Peter asked Tanner, ignoring Hal's protests about drugging women.

Tanner shrugged and tried not to smile. "I don't really know. I guess we'll just play it by ear."

"You're not really going to start a relationship with an ex that lives eight hours away?" Alex asked in disbelief. "I mean Claire was hot and all, but I thought you had a thing for Andy anyway."

"Andy?" Tanner was a bit shocked by that. "I haven't liked Andy since I was fifteen and realized that her sister was more my type. Why would you think that?"

Alex tried not to be embarrassed and hid behind his cards as soon as he made his bet. He had a flush and was hoping to draw Hal into a betting war.

"Out of the two of us, I'd say you were the one that liked Andy," Tanner dropped in there with nonchalance and a suggestive tone.

"Yes!" Hal was even more excited. "I knew there was a girl. Who called it?" He raised his hand for a high-five that Daniel begrudgingly obliged him with, but mostly just to shut him up.

"Who's Andy?" Peter asked quirkily.

Alex blushed and tried even harder to hide his face. "She's no one."

"A no one that Alex just happed to have kissed in the woods one night," Tanner pointed out, rearranging his cards nonchalantly.

"Kissed? That's it?" Hal pouted, disappointed.

"How did you know that?" Alex asked in awe. "She left town that night."

Tanner shrugged. "Claire told me. She read it in Andy's blog."

"Who is Andy again?" Peter asked, becoming slightly confused. "And which one is Claire?"

Alex gulped. "She wrote about me in her blog." He hadn't even known she had a blog. That would be something worth a read, an inside ticket into the life of Andy Holly.

Tanner just shrugged again and folded out of his hand of cards. Alex had completely forgotten they were playing cards. "All she said was that you were a stupid asshole and that she kissed you in the woods."

"A stupid asshole?" Alex repeated numbly while Daniel laughed at his expense.

"You know," Daniel said as his laughter subsided, "I think she's got you pegged."

"Oh shut up Dan!" Alex snapped. This time it was Hal who laughed. "And what's so funny to you?"

Hal tried desperately to reply, but he was a bit consumed in his own laughter. "It's just-" he chortled. "It's just that I was remembering the last time you got this worked-up, Alex. Remember that?"

Peter joined Hal, at Alex's expense. "At Tanner's wedding!" he shouted excitedly.

Alex would have preferred if this had never come up.

"Oh god I remember that," Daniel smiled. "He got right pissed and started a screaming match with that poor guest. And she just called him a wanker and slapped him. Yeah, that was funny."

"Was not," Alex growled.

"Yeah it was," Hal pointed out. "That girl looked as though she wanted to kill you. What'd you say to her anyway?"

"When was this?" Tanner asked sounding very upset that he didn't remember, and saving Alex from responding to Hal's question. What Alex had said that night wasn't a question that anyone should repeat. Ever. "I don't remember_ that_."

Hal shrugged. "It was late. I think you'd already left."

Alex blushed and pretended not to remember. In truth he hardly did. He'd been so wasted that night that he didn't even recall the actual ceremony, just flashes of it in which he was so wobbly that Peter had to hold him up by the altar. But give Alex a break; it's a hard thing to cope with your best friend getting married to a wicked woman and all the changes that implied.

"It could have been worse." Peter dealt the next hand and smiled. "Remember my wedding?"

Hal burst out in laughter again and spit all over Daniel who was sitting across the table from him. "Yeah, he was shooting Jagermeister with Maggie's bridesmaid and the next thing we know they're making out in the coat closet. I was never so proud to call you my cousin as that night."

"Wait, I thought," Tanner reminded everyone, "that was the night he first hooked up with Kim."

"It was the same night?" Daniel asked. "I never knew that!"

Peter smiled. "Alex really seems to enjoy himself at weddings, doesn't he?"

"Or at least he enjoys the open bar," Tanner finished with a grin.

Alex groaned and hid his head in his hands. "It's not my fault. Who has Jagermeister at a wedding anyway? I hadn't drunk that since college."

"I plan on having the most potent alcohol available at my wedding. Peter- I leave it to you to smuggle a bottle of Absinth in to get me through the ceremony," Hal said.

"You? Get married?" Peter asked with all the amusement that the idea of Hal marrying anyone implied. "We'd need more than alcohol to get you through that, my friend."

Hal shrugged. It was probably true.

Alex was bit fed-up with their discussion about him. He hardly remembered either of those drunken wedding encounters and he didn't see how they could hold them against him with the amount of alcohol involved in both instances. It's not like _they_ never did stupid things. Tanner had made out with an exotic dancer the night before his wedding. Daniel had had an affair with a married woman, convinced her to leave her husband, and then broken it off a few short months later. Peter had only proposed to Maggie out of guilt, because he had kissed one of his co-workers the day before. And Hal… Hal's indiscretions were so numerous that Alex wouldn't even know where to begin.

But Alex would never hold any of that against them. He wouldn't reveal their secrets. He would bite his tongue and let them take the mickey out of him because in the end not a single one of them was a bad guy… well an argument could be made for Hal at least. They fucked up and did stupid things, but they lived and loved and have story upon story to tell. They redeemed themselves for their mistakes and understood that the past was behind them. After all, nobody's perfect.

Alex couldn't have assembled a better group of friends if he'd tried. They'd all just happened to find him. Hal was obligatory- he was family. Tanner was from college. Peter was adopted into the group with an introduction by Maggie. And Daniel was the newest member that had originally been picked-up, soon after Tanner's wedding, to fill Tanner's spot in their two-on-two basketball game.

In the end they were perfect for Alex. Each friend taught Alex something. Hal showed Alex how to relax and live for the moment. Tanner had taught Alex how to take things in stride and never look back. Peter showed Alex how to be happy with the people he surrounds himself with and what domestic life is all about. And Daniel taught Alex a wicked jump-shot and how to shoot three-pointers from the corner.

But, Alex commonly asked himself, what did he ever teach them?

"Dude!" Peter shouted as if he'd suddenly had life shattering epiphany. "I figured out why being married doesn't suck."

Everyone dropped what they were doing, Tanner stopping mid-toss as he went to add his bet to the pot.

"Well what is it?" Alex prodded.

Peter smiled at them for a second. "It's the sandwiches. Maggs makes the best damn sandwiches ever. She has perfect mayo-to-mustard ratios."

"Wow," Daniel stated monotonously, obviously unimpressed by Peter's discovery. "I think that's probably one of the saddest things I've ever heard."

Hal agreed whole-heartedly. He'd still secretly believed that people got married so they could have sex without bothering with protection- because what did it matter if they had kids; they were already stuck together?

"People like you, make me glad I'm divorced," Tanner added shaking his head sadly as he finally released his bet, adding it to the pot.

"You'll do good to remember that when it comes to Claire," Alex pointed out as he called Tanner's bet and tried to ignore all the implications of his statement.

Tanner refused to let his words slide. "What's your problem with Claire?" he asked curiously, not with the anger that would have been perfectly justified. Alex took his passive response as a lack of affection.

Alex shrugged defensively. "I just think you should remember how shitty that last marriage turned out and really think things through. I mean, even you have to admit, a relationship with Claire would have more than its share of obstacles."

"All relationships have obstacles," Daniel pointed out.

"That's why I try to avoid them," Hal added with a hasty wink.

Alex tried to remain nonchalant as he spoke. He focused on the hand in front of him and refused to meet eye contact with the rest of the table. "But it doesn't really matter, if you really like the person. Some girls are worth the effort. All you have to ask yourself, is if Claire is worth the effort? Is she worth getting screwed-over again?" It was a bleak thing to say and he knew how Tanner would react. Tanner had been more than careful since Katie. He'd gotten stung by a jellyfish and refused to let it happen again. He would let Alex guide him and step away, because the wound was still fresh and no man wants to make the same mistake twice.

Alex had only Tanner's best intentions in mind. But somewhere else, deep down inside, he had other motives. When Tanner got married, Alex had lost his best friend. It was all about "Tanner and Katie," and late nights at the local bar were henceforth out of the question. That's why Alex had gotten so drunk for his best friend's wedding and the basic synopsis of his slurred ramblings to that poor wedding guest. It was a hard idea to cope with, but Tanner's wife cheating on him was the best thing that ever happened to Alex.

"Al, your hand," Peter said passing Alex the deck to deal the next round of five-card. It was a long trip back into the present and Alex made it quickly, snapping back to the here and now with a shake of his head and a quick re-focus of his eyes.

"How's Pammie?" Hal asked as he picked up his cards and raised without even checking his hand.

Alex shrugged. Pammie? He'd almost forgotten about her. "Good I think." Pamela was always good. She was the epitome of perfection in Alex's eyes. No girl would measure up to his baby sister, with her pretty blue eyes and bemused sense of humor. If Alex could find someone that could match wits with Pamela, then he'd marry her on the spot.

Peter yawned and tossed in his final bet. "Tell her we say hi," he muttered as he dropped his cards to their green, fuzzy table and stood.

"You leaving?" Tanner asked as he too stood up.

Peter nodded. "It's late and Allie will have me up at four in the morning." Peter yawned again and put on his windbreaker. "You want a ride?"

Tanner took the ride with Peter and, soon after, Daniel departed as well. Hal muttered a quick goodnight, but only made it as far as Alex's couch before he lay down and fell asleep watching the same gazelle show, once again, on the Discovery Channel.

This was how most poker nights ended, except this time Alex had thoughts of Pamela to keep him company. If Pamela could be so good, then maybe- just maybe -there was a girl out there in the world good enough for Alex. Good enough to make him happy.

* * *

Alex loved his terrace more than anything else about his apartment. It was beautiful (and Hal-free) out there at night with the moon glaring down on him and the billions of city-lights twinkling in the inky, black sky. He would always sit out there and relax after a tough day (in other words: any day in which Hal decided to bother him), soaking in the serenity of the city and pondering the lives of all those people below. 

But tonight, the terrace just wasn't cutting it.

The moon had disappeared, reaching both the end and beginning of its cycle, and wasn't there to share the night with Alex. The city lights seemed to pale in comparison to those glittering stars he'd seen every night in Alabama, where they'd wink at him and reflect right back into the sky off the placid river, dotting the sky with mystery.

There were no crickets in the city, only sirens and shouts from the people on the ground. The little herds of humans below seemed oddly insignificant, as if their stories hardly mattered anymore. Did they even have stories? Alex had the unyielding feeling that they were just a million other Kim's- floating through life without a single care outside of their hair.

He'd always loved the city. The nearness of it all, the millions of opportunities right there on his doorstep, but, sitting out there on his terrace, Alex realized that he'd loved the city for all its chances- but never bothered to take any of them.

_

* * *

First off: I'm sorry if this chapter came off a bit angsty/depressed. I was in quite a state when I wrote it. I had just read _The Poisonwood Bible_ and it's kind of a depressing book. An amazing book, but dark nonetheless. Anyway, I'm trying to write less to the emotions and more to actions. This has long been what I consider to be my major flaw in a sea of many, many mistakes. _

_I tuned down Hal a bit, to keep my rating… but who knows where he'll end up. Peter came across exactly how I wanted him to be. I love the intro to Peter: He's an amazing husband and an amazing father and there he is with the guys trying to hide his porn. That makes me kind of laugh. I've planned it out and at the moment I have at least four more chapters in "The New York chapters." I've kind of broken this story up based on setting. _

_And we see more explanation of the Claire/Tanner relationship. Not to mention what happened with Tanner's wedding. Alex was a bit desolate and so I wanted him to do something undeniably stupid. He's only human and mistakes come with the territory. This just happened to be a big one._

_Oh wow… my last chapter before I'm back in school. Maybe that's why this chapter seems so depressing to me. May we only hope that I can maintain my updating pace… (And pump up the reviewing pace… For inspirational purposes?)_

_Ok wish me luck not falling asleep in my classes tomorrow!_


	9. Carried Away

_**Love to the Tune of a Country Song**_

"I don't take my whiskey to extremes  
I don't believe in chasin' crazy dreams  
My feet are planted firmly on the ground  
But darlin' when you come around

"I get carried away by the look

By the light in your eyes  
Before I even realize the ride I'm on  
Baby I'm long gone  
I get carried away nothin' matters but bein' with you  
Like a feather flyin' high up in the sky on a windy day  
I get carried away"

-George Strait; _"Carried Away"_

* * *

Both the boy and the girl had lives to live. One was halfway across the country creating opportunities and interesting situations in the City of Sin, while the other one was trying to hide himself away. The girl was trying new things and turning herself inside-out, while the boy was distraught over the changes that were trying to impose on his life. 

But eventually, each found exactly what they needed: An adventure. Although, the boy's adventure was much less desired…

* * *

"Dude, what's up with you?" 

"What?" Alex asked as he fiddled with his controller and stared at the TV screen. "Nothing's up with me."

Hal pressed a few choice buttons on his controller and shot Alex's character on the screen. "Nothing's up with you? That's like the seventh time I've beat you today. You never lose at James Bond. It's like your thing."

"My thing?" Alex asked, tossing aside his remote.

"Yeah. Like how sex is my thing that I'm really, really good at; video games are yours."

Alex frowned. "I'm good at sex."

Hal looked doubtful. "No. Not that good."

Alex eyed his cousin wearily. "And you'd know this _how_?" He asked, trying to keep the amusement out of his voice.

"I just have a sense about these things. Just stick to the video games and no one will care." Hal handed Alex back his remote and started the game over. When Alex lost again, Hal officially became worried. No one had beaten Alex in anything on a PlayStation twice in a row… yet alone _eight_ times in a row. "So are you going to tell me what has your panties in a twist? Or should I get you drunk first."

Alex shook his head. "Save that tactic for your latest female victim." There was a long pause, while the video game made noises as if people were dying right there in Alex's living room, but Hal was not to be deterred- even by sex- _that's_ how worried he was.

Hal picked up the remote and turned off the TV. "Are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Alex was highly confused. Hal wasn't this serious. _Ever_. And he's a lawyer… or at least he's supposed to be.

"About what happened in Alabama," Hal pointed out as if it were obvious. But to Alex, it hardly was. _He_ didn't even know what had happened in Alabama. It was just so weird. Days seemed to be dragging by and he hardly enjoyed any of the things that once made him feel so content. His bagel store had shut down. His terrace was growing some sort of fungus. And work was… work was _boring._ It had never bee boring to him before. What happened?

"My money's on a girl," Hal said while Alex tried furiously not to come to the same conclusion. "That Andy girl Tanner told us about, I'm guessing."

Alex tried not to wince when he said her name. It'd been a full month since he'd seen her last, and yet, whenever she seemed to come up, Alex would do something completely unexpected or clumsy. He'd choked on a beer the other night at Stuckey's, the closest bar, when Tanner mentioned that she'd stopped by his apartment when she was passing through the city. He'd knocked over a glass of water in his office the other day when Eadie mentioned the name Andy. It hadn't even been about her. Eadie was talking about her brother Andy.

And the weirdest thing was that he was the worst offender. He wouldn't mean to, but he'd randomly just drop her name into conversations. Someone was talking about their Honda the other day and he started rattling on and on about Andy's car Tucker. Sometimes, he even shocked himself with these little anecdotes. One day he'd said her name during poker, and right after the thought processed in his mind, he flipped over his chair.

Needless to say, Hal's accusation was hardly uncalled for.

"So are you like in love with this chick or something?" Hal asked. He seemed quite nonchalant. He was barely even surprised when Alex accidentally dropped his controller onto the hardwood floor with a loud clunk and took a whole three tries to pick it back up. In fact, Hal had been expecting it.

"No," Alex gulped finally grasping the controller and setting it carefully onto his table. "That's- that's fucking ridiculous. I only knew her a week!"

Hal shrugged. "Yeah, but you won't shut up about her ever since," he pointed out. "And frankly, we're all a bit sick of it. So you have two options: Go track down this girl and do whatever you'd like to do with her, or just shut up about it already. Just bite your tongue and we'll make sure not to mention her again."

Alex didn't even consider Hal's options. The former was so ridiculous that Alex immediately ruled it out. He would just have to suppress all thoughts of her and, maybe, she'd finally get out of his mind. Besides… he wouldn't even know where to start if he tried to look for her. She could be anywhere.

"I'll try," he gulped. "I don't do it intentionally."

"I'll make you a deal. Every time you say her name, I'll punch you in the face."

Alex smiled for a second. There was no need to reply. If he did agree to that, Hal would take it as an opportunity to punch him whenever he could, and if he didn't Hal would still punch him. His best bet was to keep mute.

"And, while we're on the topic, could you stop with all this moping crap. It's fucking depressing." He hit Alex over the head and laughed as Alex winced and grabbed the spot where he'd been brutalized. Hal picked up both remotes and handed one to Alex. "Now, I'll play you again. And this time you better kick my sorry ass."

* * *

"Hey Boss-Man," a woman named Maggie Kirk said as she sat down on the corner of Alex's desk and smiled at him. Alex didn't bother to correct her nick-name or demand that she call him Alex like he did with all other employees. Maggie wouldn't have listened even if he'd tried, and he'd tried multiple times. 

"Hey Maggs," Alex said, smiling for probably the first time that day. "What's up?"

Maggie shrugged. "Beats me. What's up with you? Eadie says you've got her worried." Maggie kicked off her fancy, but painful, black pumps and sighed with relief. Those things cut right through her skin and Alex commonly wondered why she wore them. It's not like they had an overly formal dress-code at E-Help. They were a simple internet company and most employees were merely computer programmers, expanding the development of the site. But Maggie was Alex's head accountant. Sure she only oversaw two other accountants, but Maggie liked her job and had missed it immensely when she was gone for maternity leave. "So what'd you do that's got Eads all freaked out?"

Outside of her role as head accountant, she just happened to be Alex's favorite person at work. She'd had a major crush on him when they'd first met, but that had long passed and now she could laugh at Alex's dating escapades with a non-objective point of view. She especially enjoyed what her evil baby sister had put poor Alex through. They'd both kept Maggie highly entertained during her extremely long pregnancy with Allie.

Alex shrugged. "I didn't know she was. All she said to me was that I've been keeping long hours. But when have I ever not?"

Maggie didn't know. She'd been rushing home from work everyday ever since Allie was born in order to spend as much time as possible with her baby. She hadn't been around enough to observe Alex's hours. She briefly wondered if that was a problem. "Well, whatever you did, Eads asked me to keep an eye out for you, so… I was thinking I should just spend the rest of the day-" she got off his desk and walked over to the soft leather sofa she'd convinced him to put in his office when they'd first rented the building, and laid down- "in your office." She closed her eyes and sunk into the soft sofa. "You know," she muttered sleepily, "just to keep an eye on you."

Alex laughed. He picked up the foghorn that he inexplicably kept taped to the underside of his desk and squeezed it. It honked loudly as Alex laughed and Maggie jumped back awake. "Maggie, next time you decide to sleep at work, may I suggest you not do it in front of your boss."

Maggie glared at him and crinkled her nose. "Oh, you are on such a power trip." She got off the sofa and took her seat on his desk again. "I was only testing you."

"Testing. Right," Alex laughed sarcastically. Maggie was a trip. She was a bit wacky and, if he'd known about her crush on him prior to her meeting Peter, maybe he would have acted on that. He did always seem to have fun when he was around her, but the romantic feelings just weren't there. In the end, he was glad they'd remained strictly friends.

"Ok Captain Depresso," she met his sarcasm head-on and smiled. "Want to get a drink tonight and discuss whatever it is that's got Eadie and Peter and the whole world so worried?"

"Pete's worried?"

Maggie shrugged. "Well, he mentioned you were acting funny. Pillow talk and all that."

Alex laughed again. "Do I commonly come up during your pillow talk?"

Maggie smiled. "Oh, every time," she agreed with a quick laugh. "So how about that drink?" she asked, slightly more seriously.

"What about Allie?" Alex asked, eyeing her as if she were some kind of trap. "Don't you need to rush home to her?"

"Oh God," Maggie gulped. "Do people think I'm one of those mothers that only live for their children?"

Alex nodded. "But only because you are."

Maggie conceded quickly. "Okay. Maybe just a little bit," she agreed, holding up her thumb and index finger to indicate just how little. Alex considered that to be quite an understatement. "But that doesn't mean I can't go get a drink with my best friend. I could get a sitter really easily. The girl across the hall in our building is like in love with Allie. I should be weary of kidnapping."

Alex sighed and leaned back in his chair. He looked out the window just for the briefest of moments, but it was just enough that Maggie noticed and frowned. "Go home to your baby," Alex said, turning back to Maggie with a smile put right back onto his face.

If Maggie hadn't really known Alex, maybe she'd have bought that. Now she seemed to understand a little bit of what had everyone else so worried. Alex was sad and she hadn't even noticed. He'd been like this for about a month now and she'd just been too busy. "Well if we can't have that drink, how about we have one now?"

Alex eyed her suspiciously. Maggie wasn't a very serious person, but she took her work to heart and suggesting alcohol in the middle of the workday meant that something big was afoot. He pulled out his bottle of scotch from his bottom right desk drawer and poured them each a glass, which he had extracted from the bottom left desk drawer. "So what's up Maggs?" he asked slowly as she sipped her scotch and tried to pretend it didn't make her want to spit it right back out in his face.

"I think you should plan to come to the Hamptons with us for the Fourth of July." It was a random thought, but Maggie suddenly hoped that Alex just needed to get out of the city. How was she to know that a similar thought was what had started this whole thing.

"Okay?" he agreed, still confused on the root of this topic.

"It'll be fun. Hal is coming; me, Peter, an old college friend and Kimmy." A sudden thought seemed to strike Maggie. "Does all this have anything to do with my baby sister, Al?" she asked. Now that she thought about it, Eadie and Peter started complaining about Alex about the same time that Alex broke up with Kim.

Alex was slightly confused. He hardly even remembered that Maggie had a little sister, yet alone that the little sister in question was also his ex-girlfriend. "Kim?" he echoed back.

"Yeah." She stared at him. "I know this seems a bit… far-fetched, but you're not regretting breaking up with her are you?"

"What?" Alex laughed softly. "God no! I mean- no offense or anything, but no. No, no, no, no, no."

Maggie shrugged. It had only been idea. She hadn't placed much stock in the whole concept, but she had to ask. It would have solved quite a few problems, such as Kim coming over to Peter and Maggie's apartment every night to complain about her life and what a nasty asshole Alex Crink is. But, oh well. Maggie hardly thought them being together the first time around was such a good idea.

"Well, promise me you'll come to the Hamptons with us," she demanded, dropping the subject of her deluded sister quickly and rapidly forming a new plan to get Alex out of his funk. Her friend was just his type…

"Maggs! That's like three months away," he protested.

"Then you shouldn't have any plans yet." She smiled. "I need your word that you'll come," she said with a massive grin. The thought had only struck her thirty seconds ago, but she had plans for Alex already growing in her mind.

"Would you like it in writing?" he asked facetiously.

"That won't be necessary," she replied, missing the sarcasm.

"What's this all about?" he asked, his sarcasm replaced with suspicion.

"Nothing," she replied pseudo-innocently. "I just have a friend that I think you should meet." Maggie was a bit of an evil genius. Alex had learned long ago to fear her when she started making plans.

"Alex," the speaker on his phone rang out with Eadie's voice. "Craig Bolten is calling for the nine billionth time in the last two weeks. Are we still out of town?"

Alex smirked. "Yes. There's a hurricane brewing and I'm stuck in the Camion Islands," he replied holding down the intercom button.

"If I didn't like you, I'd hate you for making me deal with this leech," the intercom replied. Alex and Maggie laughed.

"And you say I'm the evil one," Maggie sighed with a smile as she hopped off the desk and skipped out of his office, only stopping momentarily at the door. "So I have your word? You'll be at the Hamptons for the Fourth?"

Alex shook his head and tried to appear annoyed. "Yes. You have my word. Now get back to work."

* * *

Kill the Moonlight, Stab the Sun 

Thursday, April 28

Mood: Elated

Music: Material Girl; Madonna

Vegas is like an everlasting party. I love it here!

This is the town of dirty little secrets and "Don't ask, don't tell." You can be one person one night and someone completely different the next. In the past three weeks I have been Claire, my sister; Susan, from Kansas; Betty, as in Betty Crocker; Angela, the mobster's daughter; Bonnie, who likes to giggle; Carolynn, who gets around; Kayla, who's very seductive; and Veronica, the ex porn star. There are more, but those are my favorites so far. It's kind of like a game; you can't take this place too seriously.

Anyway I have an old friend, Brad, that's the hotel manager for the Palms and he's hooking me up with a room for a little while- strictly under the table. The hotel/casino life is the best. It's like living in the lap of luxury. I can go days at a time never even leaving the hotel and still have plenty to do. Brad seriously has it made. If only I'd married him…

The strip is beautiful. At night it all lights up and the city just seems to glow. It's kind of distracting. You don't even know where to look half the time and have absolutely no idea what you want to do next.

I've met a couple of high rollers. They take you out for a night on the town; and the city with a wad of money in you pocket is like a whole new experience. They all try to impress you with their fancy dinners, their famously expensive suites, and their Vegas shows. Just last night Luke Stanton took me to Cirque Du Soleil, _Mystere_. The show was impressive, Luke was not. Just goes to show, no matter how much money you have, you can still be boring. Contortionism, on the other hand, is always entertaining.

But even when I "rough it" and just go out to a club, I meet amazing people. Be them tourists or, even more rarely, locals, everyone here is so entertaining. Vegas offers the kind of anonymity that allows people to lose their inhibitions and just be themselves. That's kind of like what my whole life is like.

But I'm pretty damn exhausted. Clubs don't really close until like six in the morning and I'm an all-night kind of girl, but even for me, it becomes tiring. I just need to get some sleep. I have this amazing hotel room and I've barely spent any time in it at all. I'm thinking I should just take a nice long nap and see if Brad can hook me up with some free room service. I feel like the laziest person in the world, just mooching off Brad like this, but he seems all too happy to do it and who am I to pass up a free month in Vegas? I really have some of the best friends ever.

Haven't heard from the Claire-Bear for awhile… I hope she's okay. Maybe I'll call her after my nap. That's really weird now that I think about it. Claire always tracks me down and leaves me messages on my pager (Don't mock the ghetto pager. It's way cheaper and I'm not a big fan of cell phones), but I haven't heard from her in pretty long time. She was fine when I stopped in town for a night about a month ago. Maybe something happened? I was in New York right before I came here. Tanner said that he'd call Claire. Do you think he said something bad to her?

…Freaking out now.

Oh well. I'll just make another midnight stop in Selma on my way by. I'll probably skip out of here in a couple of days. I'm tired and I feel guilty imposing on Brad any longer. I can't stay forever. I'll just have a couple more nights of fun…

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I plan on taking full advantage of what that implies.

Coming to a town near you,

Andy Holly

* * *

Daniel Shrout loved two things more than anything: his girlfriend, Sam, and basketball. He'd been with Sam for almost two years now and was head-over heels already. But Basketball and Daniel have had a much more long-term affair. Growing up outside of Bristol, England, he'd been one of the only kids that spent his days dribbling an orange ball around the neighborhood rather than a soccer ball like all the other kids. Britain, like the rest of the world loved futball, but Alex was obsessed and decided not to care that his hobby was much more popular in a completely different nation. 

"You dribble like a little girl," he shouted at Peter, his teammate for the day, as Hal intercepted yet another break-away. Daniel also had another trait that made him feel unusually at home in America: his overly competitive spirit. Daniel hated to lose. Sadly, Hal and Alex had long ago matched him up with the least competent of the group: Peter.

"It's not my fault Daniel," Peter shouted back, glaring at the British man as if he were Satan. "I'm freaking tired!"

Daniel rolled his eyes and grabbed the ball from a sweaty Hal, who was grinning with accomplishment. "Time out," he growled as Peter wondered off the court to grab his water bottle and pat himself down with a dry towel. "You're complete rubbish at this game. You're lucky we're friends or else I might just replace you."

"I'm a born runner," Peter replied as he caught his breath quickly and wiped his face on the hem of his shirt. "I'm not good at this whole hand-eye coordination thing."

"I think we should switch teams," Daniel suggested resolutely. Alex just shook his head in reply and sat down beside Peter to catch his own breath. Alex was the second worst player. He'd never played a single sport in his entire youth, but Hal had forced him to practice with him enough that Alex had picked up on a bit of the sport. He still wasn't very skilled, but he was better than Peter- not that that was much of an achievement. Peter was horrible.

"No, no team switching," Hal protested quickly. "You're the best player here so you should be matched with the worst. The teams are fair."

"But Peter is dreadful!" Daniel shouted. "I can't play with this incompetent lug anymore, Hal! I demand a swap!"

Hal continued to shake his head, while Peter blushed and complained about their insults. "Why would you want to switch anyway? It's not like Alex is good either," Hal added to his argument.

"Oh thanks," Alex grunted as he too wiped his face on his nasty, sweaty, gray t-shirt. Hal was the only one among them that had the confidence to walk around without his shirt on, but if they played a pick-up game Hal always seemed to volunteer them to be skins. Luckily, the gym was pretty deserted today and there was no one around to force such a situation.

"Well if we just got Tanner to come take his place…" Daniel thought out loud. No one really wanted to admit it, but Tanner had been a ghost lately. Tracking him down for a game of basketball would be near impossible. He'd missed the last three poker nights and every time anyone called to ask him about it, he'd be busy working. They all understood the demands of a hectic job- except maybe Hal, who didn't care less- and no one pressured him to skive-off work for a bit, but this was insane. Tanner hadn't been this scarce since Katie; big project or not.

"Dude, less complaining; more playing," Hal said as he grabbed the ball back from Daniel and started dribbling around the gym.

"No," Peter sighed as he slowly stood up from the bench. "I need to get home. I miss my baby girl." He smiled at Alex, the only one who would even care. "You should have seen, Al; last night she started crawling all by herself!" But Alex already knew this; Maggie had showed everyone in the office the video and all the women had been cooing about it all day.

But, even though Alex was slightly annoyed at hearing the news for the ninth time, he smiled back at his friend and allowed Peter to bask in the glow of parenting. This was something about Peter that none of the guys could understand, the way he loved his daughter, but out of all of them Alex was the most indulgent. Alex could at least comprehend the unconditional love Peter felt; he felt it for his thirteen years younger sister too.

"Fucking hell," Daniel muttered. "If you're leaving, I might as well go."

"Five seconds ago, you were complaining about what a horrible player I am," Peter pointed out. "If that were the case you'd do just as well if I'm here or not." Peter smiled to himself. He loved being a smart-ass.

"Shut up." Daniel became moody when he lost, and Peter knew not to mess with him anymore. Last time they'd riled him up after a loss he'd tugged a chunk of Hal's hair out. Hal still moans about his thin spot. Daniel still claims that Hal deserved what he got.

Peter gathered his water-bottle and towel, shouting a good-bye across the gym to Hal, who was shooting a series of three-pointers; bid farewell to Alex; and silently clasped Daniel on the back, who merely clenched his jaw in reply. Daniel was still too tense from the game to say anything friendly to Peter.

Daniel stood glaring at the hardwood floor for a few more minutes, while Alex nursed his water bottle, before he took a deep breath and finally let the loss go. As long as Hal was smart enough to not taunt him, Daniel would be willing to let it slide off him. He sat in Peter's vacated spot on the bench beside Alex and took his own water bottle. It was still frozen, but he was thirsty enough to attempt to extract some water anyway. "What're you doing for the rest of the night?" he asked Alex calmly.

By the time Daniel had completed his recovery, Hal had finished fiddling around on the court and he too took his water bottle and sucked down his Gatorade. "Might stop back by work," Alex replied to Daniel with a shrug.

"Hell no; you are not," Hal practically shouted at Alex. Daniel was so startled by Hal's outburst that he almost spilled his water down the front of his shirt; thankfully it was still frozen. "No more work," Hal commanded.

"What do you care?" Alex asked, slightly confused by Hal's heated reaction.

"We discussed this Alex," Hal replied ambiguously.

Daniel grinned. "Uh-oh. Lover's quarrel." Hal just glared at Daniel, who laughed to himself. He'd thought it was funny.

"When?" Alex asked, sounding perplexed.

"Last week. You know, when we talked about…"

"About what?" Alex asked. He knew what Hal was getting at, but it was more fun to mess with him.

"About... you know." Hal was itching. He didn't even pick-up on Alex's little game. "About Andy," he hissed in a loud whisper that seemed oddly comical.

Alex gasped as if he'd just heard the most atrocious swear-word. He'd been prepared for the name, and managed to brace himself against its after-affects. "Hal! You promised you wouldn't say her name," he groaned, continuing his act of innocence and seeming to be shocked to his very core.

"I-I'm really sorry Alex." Hal was very ashamed with himself for going back on his word. "You just kept prodding me for it. But either way. No more Workaholic Alex. Let's leave that to Tanner."

"I'm hardly a workaholic," Alex interjected. Daniel looked away from Alex, knowing that his facial expression would confirm Hal's accusation.

"Right. And I'm the Queen of England," Hal said.

"Queen Elizabeth? Why you look different! Have you started taking steroids?" Daniel asked, mocking a conversation with Hal.

"Seriously Al," Hal said ignoring Daniel. "You need to get out more."

"I'm out right now."

"No, I mean you need to go out and meet _new_ people. You're becoming as reclusive as you were in high school and you remember how many friends you had back then." Yeah. Alex remembered. He had none, and it was so nice of Hal to remind him. But at least Hal was worrying. That never happened back in high school; Hal used to pretend he didn't know Alex when his friends were around.

"So sweet of you to bring that up," Alex shot back bitterly.

"I'm just saying." Hal held up his hands in surrender. "You should come out with us tonight."

Daniel almost choked on his frozen bottle of water that he'd been sucking on trying to melt down some more water. "We? Fuck no. I'm not going to one of your demented clubs. I'm going home to my girlfriend."

Hal rolled his eyes and amended his previous statement. "Go out with _me_ tonight."

Daniel almost choked on his bottle again, except this time he was laughing. Hal had just asked his cousin out on a date.

Hal continued to ignore him. "C'mon Al! I need a wingman and you need to meet people. It'll be good for you!"

Alex grimaced. It might be good for him, but that didn't make it enjoyable for him. Alex was an introvert. He didn't enjoy large crowds of people and having to introduce himself to desperate, seedy women. He liked playing video games and hanging out with Maggie or the guys.

And yet, he found himself agreeing. Before he even knew what he'd done, he'd replied to the affirmative and instantly regretted doing so. Oh god, what had he just agreed to?

* * *

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I think Hal is right." 

"Maggie!" Alex growled into his phone. "That's no help. I need your guidance to get me out of this," he hissed into his phone, holding his cell phone with one hand and pressing his finger into his open ear to muffle the noise of the club with the other. He was hiding in the bathroom, but the music was so intense that it was pounding through the walls and the entire bathroom seemed to be shaking from the bass.

"Uh-uh," Maggie contradicted. "This will be good for you, Alex. Go out and try something new for a change. Maybe you'll have fun."

"I don't want to have fun," he complained to the phone. "I just want to go home and drink a bottle of beer and fall asleep watching Comedy Central."

"Alex!" she chastised him. He could feel her disapproving look even through the phone. "You do that every night!"

"I don't care. Get me out of this Maggs." He was desperate and she was his absolute last and only hope of rescue. "I'm begging you to help me."

"OK then. You want my advice? My advice is to go out there. Find the prettiest girl you can and say, 'Hello there, I'm Alex. Can I buy you a drink?'"

"Maggie, it's not that kind of club and that's not the kind of advice I wanted," he replied, his hope of making it out of this alive dimming quickly.

"Well that's all the advice I'm offering. Have fun Alex. _Have an adventure_." She hung up on him, but it was a whole three minutes before Alex even realized. _An adventure_. Maggie wasn't the first person that'd given him such advice in the past six weeks. Andy Holly had said that Alex needed an adventure and here one was, knocking on his door. Was he just going to let it slip by? Sure it wasn't the kind of adventure he'd had in mind, hiking the Grand Canyon seemed much more relevant, but maybe this was closer to what he needed.

Alex took a deep breath and braced himself for what he was about to face. He screwed up his face in determination, splashed some water on his cheeks, and, finally, exited the bathroom.

He immediately wished he hadn't. Was it necessary that they play the music that loud? He couldn't even hear himself think. And it was hot. It was _excruciatingly_ hot in that stuffy, dark room. All around him, sweaty people were rubbing up against each other to music that could only be enjoyed by robots. Alex just wanted to get out.

He pushed his way through the crowd and, after a whole fifteen minutes, had almost made his way to the door when he spotted Hal talking to some girl at the bar. Leave it to Hal to find a girl and the best, if not only, seat in the place in the time that Alex was gone. Alex changed direction and headed back toward his cousin.

"So what kind of panties _are_ you wearing?" he heard Hal ask.

"Who says I am?" the early-twenty-something girl, with a thick layer of unnatural makeup, said. Ew. Alex did not want to be in a place where Hal wasn't the most perverted person in the room. His standards would never be that low.

"Hey Al." Hal cleared the space around him by elbowing the man beside him out of the way and squeezing Alex into the small space allotted; amazingly enough, it was the most personal space Alex had had the entire night. "This is my cousin- Alex," Hal said introducing Alex to Cake Face girl. Alex noticed that he didn't offer a name for her. Knowing Hal, he'd probably forgotten it already.

"Oh!" Cake Face perked up. She liked what she saw, Alex hardly bothered to care. "I'm Tara," she said, extending a hand to Alex and suddenly directing her seductive glances away from Hal. Tara seemed to be a fitting name for her, but Alex still preferred Cake Face.

Hal had noticed his companion's distraction and winced. He was fairly disappointed that his brilliant plan had backfired into ruin. He tried to remind himself that Alex was too attractive to be a good wing-man. Sometimes he wished Alex would go back to being a dork again, so he could pretend that Alex was his mentally handicapped cousin that he watches out for whenever he can. Yeah, that had been a good bit. Chicks ate that crap up. "You want a drink, Al?" he asked his cousin. Even if Alex was cramping his game, it had been his suggestion to bring him along and he'd pay the penalty. Under no circumstances would he let Alex leave empty handed to go home and mope some more.

Alex nodded and Hal ordered him an overpriced beer and handed it to him.

"So Alex," Cake Face giggled uncontrollably, "what do you do?"

Alex shrugged. He didn't really feel like explaining it to this girl. She probably wouldn't even understand. So he just left it with a shrug.

"Al's a doctor. Pediatrics as a matter of fact." Oh god. Hal had just sent out the code to Cake Face that Alex wanted to sleep with her. A pediatrician? No respectable doctor would ever be caught in a place like this… This is where diseases are born, not cured.

"Oh god! I am so sorry," a woman squeaked as she knocked into Alex's back and pushed him with enough force that some of his beer slopped out of the bottle and sprayed across the front of his shirt. Alex whirled around as the woman patted at his shirt desperately, as if that would fix the matter. "You don't think there'll be any napkins around here, do you?" she asked, looking around furiously. "Oh what am I saying? McDonalds has napkins, this place has venereal diseases."

Alex laughed. She was funny, he liked funny. "It's okay. You really don't need to worry about it."

"I don't?" she asked, looking up at Alex. Her eyes widened as she took him in, and she momentarily clouded over.

Alex nodded and stared right back. She was pretty. She had nice blond hair that was stock-straight and fell around her shoulders. She had a round face that made her look very innocent, but still sexy. And, best of all, she had round green eyes that reminded him of… Well, either way, she was pretty.

"Then I suppose I can stop touching you now," she muttered dazedly, finally taking her hands away from his damp shirt, as she continued to stare up at him.

Alex laughed and stepped back slightly, his back bumping into the bar. "Yes, that'd probably be appropriate." Alex turned around to face Hal again, but, unsurprisingly, Hal and Cake Face had disappeared in that short span of time, and Alex was now left in this seedy club with only his thoughts to keep him company. Or maybe not…

The blond took Cake Face's spot at the bar and ordered a beer from the overwhelmed bar tender. She looked out of the corner of her eye at Alex in a way that was unbelievably sexy, and flipped her curtain of blond hair. It was an annoying trait that reminded him of Kim, but he hardly processed the similarity before she was speaking to him. "Are you here all by yourself?" she asked, shouting to be heard over the music.

Alex gave her a half-shrug. "I was with a friend, but I guess he just left."

"He left you all alone in a place like this?" she asked in disbelief. "That's horrible. You could have gotten Ebola by now."

"What's with all the diseases?" he asked, still amused by her last comment.

She smiled. "Sorry it comes with the territory. I'm a doctor. A pediatrician actually."

"Oh." Alex frowned slightly. Did the code apply to women too? He wasn't experienced enough for that kind of translation.

"What do_ you_ do?" she asked as the bartender finally handed her a beer. She held it tightly, covering the opening with her thumb as if to keep out germs. Perhaps she really was a doctor.

Alex smiled. "I own a website. It's kind of like a search engine really, except it's directed at help sites mostly. Like a 'For Dummies' online."

"Oh! What's it called?"

"E-help," he replied and her mouth dropped open a little. "I know- it's a bland name, but I wasn't much of the creative type-"

"No, no!" she protested. "It's not the name, it's just that I'm like obsessed with that site. I use it for everything."

"Honestly?"

"Honestly. It's so clever, the way it kind of learns about you. And how it asks you about your progress on your project! How did you come up with that?"

Alex smiled modestly and tilted his head down so that she couldn't read the amount of pleasure her compliment had evoked. "Just something I kind of started stringing together in college. I had a couple of journalist majors ask me if I could start a web site for them to start a kind of 'Dear Abby' thing, and the idea just kind of grew."

"Amazing!" she proclaimed. "I always love to hear the stories about how people come up with things. Like the foot massager. I bet you anything that there's an interesting story behind that invention."

Alex laughed again. He really liked this girl… he hadn't laughed like that in… well in about six weeks. He extended a hand to the girl and looked back up at her. "I'm Alex," he proclaimed, still smiling a bit, like an idiot.

She returned his goofy grin, though, and met his hand contact, germs and all. "I'm Erin."

Maybe an adventure was what Alex needed after all.

_

* * *

Before I analyze, might I just say to Misty Breyer, Hal isn't Wickham! He's Richard fo' sho'. Although I wasn't supposed to tell you that… (Even though it's rather obvious if you think about it. I mean, they are cousins and all.) Pretend you didn't read it. That's a direct command! There_ is_ a _is_ a Wickham in this story. He has already been introduced and… I refuse to say anything more. You people should just wait! Patience grasshopper! I believe you may be pleasantly surprised to find out… :D_

… _Or maybe you won't be. Surprised, that it. I don't know. I read it and think that it's blatantly obvious. But I know how it ends, so I should hope I can see things that you guys don't._

_Arg. …Sometimes, do you ever pretend you're a pirate? _

_Not sure where that came from. Anyway! I like these chapters because this is the part of the story that is completely of my creation. Dearest, brilliant Janey doesn't cover what Darcy does when he's in London and so Alex can do whatever the hell he wants for his time in New York. Erin's pretty important. I'm basically positive that Darcy had at least some crazy chicks after him when he was in London. I mean he was Mr. Darcy… a very eligible bachelor._

_You guys write some kickin' reviews. Dee, you're like the best. Curly Haired friend- Happy Birthday! Did I miss it? I'm sorry. I tried. Oasis… you're just so loyal I had to give a little shout out. Ya. Ok. ;)_


	10. Wasted

_**Love to the Tune of a Country Song**_

"She kept drivin' along  
Till the moon and the sun were floating side-by-side  
He looked in the mirror and his eyes were clear  
For the first time in a while

"Hey, yeah,  
Oh, I don't wanna' spend my life jaded  
Waiting to wake up one day and find  
That I've let all these years go by  
Wasted"

-Carrie Underwood; _"Wasted"_

* * *

Time was spinning by. The boy was avoiding thoughts about things that seemed to make him feel kind of fuzzy and the girl was… on a roll with no explanation or reason why. Each had hit a groove and things were running smoothly. 

But every road has its bumps and they were heading for a pothole.

* * *

"_You_ met a girl?" 

"Why do you sound so shocked Pete?" Alex asked, slightly put-out by his friend's tone.

Peter flipped the next card, dealing out a quick hand of Texas Hold 'Em and trying not to show his surprise by Alex's news. "Well it's just that you don't normally meet girls when you go out."

"I meet girls!" Alex protested, his ego taking a severe bruising.

"What Peter means is that you don't normally _meet girls," _Hal added, trying to help Peter clarify, but managing to resolve absolutely nothing. Hal had a talent in that area. He could contribute to a conversation without actually contributing anything of use. Still, he _thought _he was useful.

"What does that even mean?" Daniel asked, as he folded before the flop. He had a horrible hand: Ten, two off suit. Only Hal would be moronic enough to play that hand.

"It means," Peter began to clarify, as Hal raised the pot with a king, seven. Hal raised no matter what he held in his hand. It was just in his nature to go all in and be the first one out. Alex always admired his bravery, but commonly mistook it for brash stupidity. Hal, personally, preferred the term "overzealous risk taker." "It means that you meet girls, but you hardly ever make a move. To walk out of a club with a girl's number is pretty big for you."

"I get numbers," Alex pouted as he called Hal's bet, and Peter began to deal the flop.

"No, you're the kind of guy that girls give their numbers to. You don't even work at it," Peter replied. The flop appeared to be a jumble of mismatched cards, but the nine, six, ten completed Alex's eight, seven combination beautifully. It wasn't looking good for Hal.

"It's not my fault they beat me to the punch," Alex replied defensively. "I call it fate's way of making up for the first eighteen years of my life."

"What's this Erin chick like anyway? Is she even attractive?" Peter asked, trying to prevent Alex from telling his sob story about high school obscurity. High school is a bitch for everyone, except maybe Hal but he hardly ever counts, and the guys were a bit tired of the tale.

Alex nodded. "Yep, blond, leggy, no distinguishable facial deformities."

"Wow," Daniel drawled monotonously. "Sounds insanely hot."

Alex threw one of his chips at him. It hit Daniel squarely in the middle of his forehead. "She _is_ hot." Alex stopped his protest quickly. "Oh why am I even bothering? Like I give half a damn what you guys think."

"I think you do," Peter replied as he burned and turned the next card: a two. Daniel momentarily regretted his decision to fold so early in the game. He was only one card off of a full-house.

"And can you even give 'half a damn?'" Hal asked as he checked. He had mucked, even he could see that. "I was pretty sure that damns only existed as a whole."

Alex tossed another chip, this time aiming at Hal. Hal caught it and threw it in the pot. "Raise," he said with a smile. Alex glared and went all in, just to piss Hal off. Hal was, sadly, forced to fold.

"What are you doing with a blond, anyway?" Peter asked as Alex raked in the small pile of chips and stacked them into neat rows. "You're a brunette kind of guy."

Alex shrugged. "Kim was a blond."

"Case and point," Daniel chipped in, already anteing for the next hand.

"Kim wasn't that bad. Sure she was manipulative, greedy, self-absorbed, and cheating on me, but at least she was…" Alex scowled as he tried to think what the good thing about Kim was that made him stay with her for so long. God, he could have sworn there was at least one thing he liked about her. What was it?

"Hot," Hal completed for him. "At least she was insanely hot."

Alex shrugged. Yeah, that sounded about right.

"But, apparently, Erin is hot as well, so we're not regretting dumping Kim, are we?" Peter asked, eyeing Alex cautiously.

"We?" Alex asked.

Peter shrugged. "I'm married. I live vicariously through you." Peter finished shuffling the deck and passed it to his left so that Daniel could deal the next hand. "By the way, we need to get laid pretty soon. It's been awhile." Peter tossed in his chips as Daniel dealt out two cards to everyone.

Alex shifted, ever so slightly uncomfortable. "It hasn't been that long." All three guys eyed him wearily and doubtfully. Alex blanched. "Okay, maybe it's been a while, but still… I have a hot date tomorrow. Give a guy a break."

"Supposedly hot date," Hal pointed out. "For all we know this girl could be a real dog."

"She's not. She's hot despite having met her at your seedy club," Alex protested as Hal tossed in a random handful of chips. Alex was starting to realize that he spent the majority of these poker nights on the defensive. He was a bit tired of always having to defend himself. That was supposed to be Tanner's job. Where was Tanner anyway?

He peeked as his cards. Pocket aces. Tanner was quickly forgotten as he tentatively called Hal's bet, hoping to give Hal enough confidence to raise the bet.

"If she was really as attractive as you claim," Hal began, "then I think I would have gotten her before you even had the chance."

Peter snorted a burst of laughter. "Oh yes, the love doctor is never slighted."

Hal glared as Daniel and Peter folded. Once again the hand was down to only Hal and Alex. Peter knew that if he came home even a dollar short of what he left with, Maggie would murder him; he always kept his money close.

"I'll have you know that I left that night with a highly beautiful girl," Hal said with emphasis as he continued to glare.

This time it was Alex that snorted. "Oh yes, Cake Face was a true beauty."

Hal was red-faced angry, so he raise the bet. Alex smirked and made a big show of making the call. The Flop had brought yet another ace. He was one shy of a nearly unbeatable hand.

"I promise you, Alex Crink, I could have gotten Erin if I'd seen her."

"Right," Peter drawled doubtfully as Daniel and Alex guffawed at Hal's boast.

"Yeah, it is right." Hal was bragging and trying to preserve his dignity as he absently tossed in a few chips off of whatever stack he saw first. He didn't even bother to count them "You guys severely underestimate me, but I assure you: Any girl, every time."

Once again, the rest of the table was hunched over in laughter. Hal waited patiently for them to regain their grips on gravity, with one cocked eyebrow and his hands covering his two cards that he'd never even bothered to look at.

"Fine, fine," Peter spoke as he held his aching gut and Alex met Hal's bet with a small raise that Hal, in turn, met without hesitation. "We'll call Maggs and ask her what she thinks on this… little development." Peter quickly pulled out his cell phone and pressed speed dial one. "Maggs?" he asked the phone after he waited through three long rings. "One sec, babe. Lemme put you on speaker." He pressed a few choice buttons. "Ok, hon. It's just the guys and we got a question to ask you."

"Hey guys," Maggie spoke cheerily through the crackling speaker.

"Hey Maggs," all three chorused in unison.

"I just put Allie to bed, or else I'd let her say hi," Maggie's voice said through the tiny electronic device.

"Kiss her goodnight for me," Peter said with a slightly wistful smile. The guys all jumped into action, their "no sentimentality at the poker table" rule in serious danger of being broken.

"We have a quick question," Alex began, leaning over the table so that Maggie could hear him clearly through the phone.

Maggie spoke quickly, answering a question that had yet to be asked. "Yes, but it was a one time thing, and you really can't blame Peter. He was stressed. It happens to lots of guys." Unfortunately, she just happened to answer the wrong question.

The guys lost themselves in laughter once again.

"Not the question we had in mind!" Peter hissed angrily into the phone as Maggie laughed with a quick "oh!"

"It's about Alex and Hal," Daniel sighed into the phone as he wiped his eyes that were watering in mirth.

"Ok, shoot," Maggie replied.

Hal smiled and leaned closer to the phone. "Maggie, if you had the choice between me and Alex, which would you choose-?"

Hal barely had the words out of his mouth before Maggie had proclaimed her decision. "Alex," she said quickly and with finality.

"You didn't let me finish!" Hal protested. Maggie's line was quiet. "Don't forget to consider in your decision that I have much more experience than Alex, I have a more outgoing personality, am much more approachable than Alex, and that I have the body of a Greek god."

Maggie's end of the line was quiet for a long time. Alex was beginning to consider that she might have lost the line.

"Maggs?" Peter bent over the phone and questioned into it.

Maggie suddenly spoke. "Sorry Hal, as tempting as that all sounds, my vote is still with Alex."

"Biased snob," Hal hissed as he tossed a few extra chips into the pot for good measure.

Peter picked up the phone and switched off the speaker, pressing it to his ear as he stood and wandered away from the table, cooing into the phone.

The bet was to Alex and he tossed in the same amount of chips that Hal had just relented. He was smirking solidly. Hal averted his eyes, unable to witness his gloating.

"I still maintain," Hal proclaimed as Daniel burned and turned up a queen of diamonds, "that I could get any girl, Maggie excluded, over you."

Alex shrugged. "If that's what you need to tell yourself, you do that."

"I can. Name the girl and it's on." Hal tossed the rest of his chips into the pile. He was officially all-in.

"Is that a bet?" Daniel asked as he awaited Alex's response to the threat.

Hal nodded to Daniel. Alex pushed the rest of his, considerably larger, stack of chips into the pot. "It's on," he agreed. "I'll even take mercy on you and let you name the girl."

Daniel shrugged and kept his mouth sealed tightly as he burned the next card and turned a jack of diamonds.

Hal smirked and extended his hand to Alex. Alex took it, shaking it and squeezing it with all his might. Hal refused to wince.

"It's a bet then," Daniel agreed, official witness. "How about $100 bucks, sound good?" Both men agreed with a simple nod of their heads. "Alright. Now show your cards."

Alex revealed first: Three aces. He had noticed that Hal had never even checked his cards. He expected nothing more than a pair of twos from him.

Hal flipped his cards and all three of them studied them for a prolonged period of time. Peter snapped his phone shut and rushed back over to the table. He briefly looked at the cards Hal had just flipped. "Hey cool, who got a royal flush. I don't think any of us has gotten one of those yet."

Hal smirked as Alex's and Daniel's jaw remained on the floor of the apartment. He extended his arm and raked it across the green velvety table, sliding the entire pot to him and tossing Alex back the few chips he still had.

"Sweet," Hal finished with a smirk as he stacked his chips and eyed his beautiful combination. Ace through ten of diamonds: the absolute perfect hand.

* * *

Kill the Moonlight, Stab the Sun 

Sunday, May 15

Mood: Melodic

Music: Let Her Cry; Hootie and the Blowfish

I have music oozing out of my pores.

Or possibly those are just pimples. Adult acne is God's way of telling us He hates us. Or possibly that we have way too big of egos and no matter how old we get we'll always be scared little teenagers.

As I was saying, music has taken over my body. I don't know if it's this city, or me, but I've been writing songs nonstop since my arrival. I don't think it's the city; Seattle is way too rainy to be inspiring. Now as for me, as great as I am, I just don't think I'm song-worthy. So now I shall create option number three: George. He's… he's… well as 1930's as this is going to sound, he's dreamy!

Oh I wish you could see him. He has these amazing Dierks Bentley, blond curls. He sings at the local café and his voice would make even the simplest girl believe she can fly; his sparkly blue eyes kind of burn into you as he sits up there with only a simple stool and his guitar to keep him company. And lucky me has to waitress, and serve people, and walk around with adult acne. And his eyes. Did I mention the eyes? They're so familiar and… and, well, _blue_. I've only met one person with eyes bluer that George's… and we don't talk about _him_.

And he's obviously my muse. George. Not… that other jerky guy. Ever since I met him, random songs just kind of leap into my mind. I sit there during work and scribble them on napkins in between orders. And I talked to George one day after he finished his set and he asked me f I'd play for him. I didn't want to. You see George is amazing and I wouldn't be able to keep up. He only said that I shouldn't compare myself to anyone else. "Music is solitary," he said with his dreamy voice. "It's an individual thing. It's personal."

I told him that I don't get personal before a first date. He asked me out and made me promise to play for him afterwards. I blushed, but agreed. George Flatt: Mr. Dreamy.

Despite the rain, Seattle has its perks. I'm not sure about the city though. Ferry Boats are cool; my music seems to hit me over the head when I'm here; and even sometimes the rain is fun; I like to dance in the rain. But still… it's kind of… stuffy. You catch my drift?

The sisters are doing well. Carolynn has decided that she wouldn't like to find out the sex of her baby. I'm not quite sure if they can even find out yet, but you know Caro- once she gets her mind set on something… Looks like she'll be painting a yellow nursery. Or at least Ben will be.

Twinny says that there's absolutely nothing wrong. She told me I was insane for being so worried. Then she told me I was turning into mom. After I had an epileptic seizure from such a comment she told that she was happy and thinking about doing some traveling. _All alone!_ Gah! Doesn't she know that I'm the best road companion on the planet? I'm highly experienced, you see, but Stupid Claire thinks that I just want to supervise and make sure she's okay. Of course I do! She just lost the love of her life… or something like that. (Do you only get one love a life? I'm pretty sure I have at least 100.)

Whatever. If she doesn't want to see her Twinny, that's just fine. (Except that it's not.)

I have to go. George is on in five.

Coming to a town near you,

Andy Holly

* * *

Alex awoke to the blaring honk of Hal's snoring... all the way from the living room. It was the absolute worst sound to be woken up to, especially on a Saturday. Alex made a mental note to buy Hal some of those Breathe Right strips. He prayed they would work and salvage the minute feeble hours that Alex had reserved for sleep. Plus maybe they'd have them in neon colors and he could find at least a small glimpse of humor out of the whole predicament every time he saw Hal wearing them. 

"Alex," he heard someone hiss across his apartment after the small clunk of his front door being closed. "You awake?"

Alex begrudgingly sat up, pulling the pillow off his head and allowing Hal's blaring snored to grind against his eardrums. "Daniel?" he shouted across the apartment, not worrying about waking Hal. After all, Hal had awoken him; but even if he had wanted to extract revenge and wake him up, it would be near impossible. Alex had once poured water over Hal's head while he was asleep and he still hadn't woken-up. Alex threw on a t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts and went out to his living room to meet the mysterious Daniel and discover the reason for his presence.

Daniel had both ears plugged with his fingers to drown out the wretched noise that is Hal. He turned to Alex as Alex gestured to the terrace, plotting an escape route away from the sound that closely resembled the grind of a chainsaw mingled with the squeak of nails on a chalkboard. Needless to say, they were on the terrace in record timing.

"What's up?" Alex asked Daniel as he quickly slid the glass terrace door closed and turned to Daniel.

Daniel paled considerably. Alex had never seen someone go so deathly pale at such a simple question. Daniel slowly sat down in one of the chairs Alex kept on his terrace, but quickly jumped back up with his hand clutching his bottom.

"Oh sorry," Alex apologized. "I forgot it rained last night. Do you want to go back inside so we can sit?"

Daniel eyed Hal's sleeping form through the glass door. "No, let's just stand." Alex was highly thankful that Daniel had made such a decision.

"Is everything okay?" Alex asked wearily as Daniel shuffled nervously, but was otherwise silent.

Daniel finally made eye contact with Alex and winced slightly. "I-I need your help with something."

"Okay." There was another prolonged silence. Alex was pretty sure that Daniel would jump off the roof pretty soon if things carried on this way. What was he so nervous about? "You know, it's much easier for me to help you when I know what it is you want me to do."

"I-I-I need you to go to… to Tiffany's with me."

Alex was confused. Guys hardly ever asked other guys to go to Tiffany's. What was he supposed to get for him, a silver tea set? Or maybe a diamond ring- "…Daniel," Alex sighed, his eyes wide, his jaw loose as a realization hit him. "Are you going to propose to Sam?"

Daniel, if possible, flushed even more. Eventually he nodded numbly. "Y-yeah. Why? Do you think I shouldn't?"

Alex bit his lip. Another one of his friends getting married? Change was difficult for Alex, but Sam was a cool chick and Alex was pretty sure he could handle her being officially inducted into their weird little group. He nodded. "No, I think it's a good idea." He was very proud of himself for such a morsel of self-sacrifice. Was it possible that Alex was maturing ever so slightly?

"Perfect!" Daniel looked as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He'd been bursting with that bit of news for days now. It felt nice to know that he finally had someone to support him and his decision. "I know you helped Tanner and Pete pick out their rings so I figured you'd be a seasoned pro by now. So what do you think? Are you going to help me?" He was now smiling, full-force. Alex was in awe over such a radical emotional 180.

"Yeah, that's cool." He bit his tongue. "I wasn't much help to either of them, but I'll help all the same."

"And- and you won't tell anyone?" Daniel asked stopping Alex as he made to go back inside the den of the sleeping beast and change.

Alex couldn't force a smile, so he bit his tongue again and shrugged. "Dude, who would I tell? Hal?"

Daniel smiled again and Alex tried not to feel guilty that his whole heart wasn't going out to support Daniel. "Thanks man."

Alex lifted his eyebrows momentarily and let them drop back down as he curled his lips inward to prevent himself from speaking. And with that he plugged his ears and used his elbows to open the door.

Change was, once again, knocking on his door.

* * *

Alex splashed some water onto his face and stared at his reflection in the mirror. The odd man that stood by the door holding a hand towel walked over to him and handed it to him. It was a rather odd gesture. He'd been to plenty of these fancy restaurants and met plenty of bathroom attendants but he'd never had one acknowledge him like so. "Is everything alright sir?" the old man asked. Come to think of it, out of all the bathroom attendants he'd ever met, this one was the first one that had ever spoken to him other than to thank him for the tip. 

Alex nodded and turned to face the man. "Yes, fine. Just fine."

The man raised a singular eyebrow and silently judged him. Alex wriggled under the scrutiny. "You seem rather nervous," the old man pointed out.

Alex shrugged and rubbed his damp eyebrows. "Well, ya'know. First date jitters and all."

"Ah!" The man held up a finger. "That must be it."

"Yeah. Guess it is." Alex shuffled some more. Was that why he was so nervous? Sure it'd been awhile since Alex's last first date, but he never remembered being as freaked out as he was now. Erin was probably beginning to wonder if he'd fallen in the toilet or something; he'd been gone for a good while now.

"Mint?" the man asked, shoving a peppermint under Alex's nose. Alex smiled and accepted the proffered refresher.

"Thanks." This was the part where he slipped the man a ten-dollar bill and slipped out back to the sexy woman that was waiting patiently back at their table. And yet, Alex didn't move. "Sir, have you ever been in love?"

The quirky old man raised an eyebrow. "Why I should hope so. I've been married for 32 years."

"32? Wow. That's great." Alex loosened his tie. Why was it so hot in there?

"Why do you ask?"

"Can I have another mint?" Alex asked, having accidentally swallowed his own.

"Sir? Are _you_ in love?"

Alex dropped the mint he'd just taken from the tray beside the man and cursed under his breath. Before he could think he was bending down onto his knees, searching the floor for the slippery little mint. He pressed his face to the floor trying to see under the counter.

"You'd do best to just leave it, I'd say," the old man recommended.

Alex closed his eyes for a moment and felt the cool, tile floor press against his cheek before he slowly stood back up. "What's wrong with me that I'm hiding from a beautiful, blond girl with legs up to here?" He held his hand comically high to indicate the height of the legs.

The man laughed. "What on earth are you doing with legs up to there?" he asked, indicating a similar, comically high height. "You only need a girl with legs up to here." He lowered the hand. "And, to be frank with you, I can only picture you with a brunette, not a blond."

Alex shoved his face into his hands. Why did people keep saying that? Alex had been dating blonds as long as he'd been dating, and yet everyone was suddenly of the opinion that he was into brunettes. He could like redheads for all this man knew.

"But don't mind me," the man continued. "I'm just a simple bathroom attendant. If you'd like to date a living Barbie doll, who am I to stop you? I don't even know you. But if this girl is what you want, why on earth are you hiding in here with a senile old man?"

Alex sighed. The senile bathroom attendant was right. What was he doing in here… thinking about _her? _He'd do good to get out of this damn bathroom. He'd promised himself an adventure, and if that adventure just happened to include an attractive blond instead of a fiery brunette, who was he to protest? If anything, Daniel's confession had taught Alex to see that fate works in mysterious ways and maybe it was time that Alex earned to roll with the punches.

"You're right," he decided resolutely. He handed the man a twenty and pushed through the bathroom door with force. He navigated the tables over to the secluded corner where Erin was poking a pathetic and cold piece of bread with her fork and appearing very bored and very beautiful. "Hello," he said as soon as he sat down in the chair across from hers. "Sorry I took so long. I had to fend off a quick phone call."

Erin smiled graciously. She truly was beautiful. "I was begging to think you'd left me here with the check, in which case I would have hunted you down and left you a very angry note."

"An angry note? Is that all?" he asked with humor as he smiled slightly and flashed that alarming smile.

"Well, I'd also poison the mind of your secretary against you, thus thwarting your business operations for… months or something," she replied. Oh that smile of his was a knee-melter and Erin Trescott was putty in his hands.

"I'd have to wish you luck with that. My secretary is very loyal."

Erin grinned. "Oh Mr. Crink, you underestimate me."

"How so?"

Erin smiled even broader before she picked up her mutilated piece of bread and tossed it at him. Having been waiting so long, the bread had grown quite cold and hard. Needless to say, when it hit Alex on the lip, he was rather surprised at the amount of pain it caused. He quickly grabbed his lip. When he removed his hand it was sticky and red.

"Oh Alex you're bleeding!" she gasped, horrified at her own immaturity.

Alex looked down at his hand covered in his own inky red blood. He used his tongue to press his lip out as far as it would stretch and crossed his eyes to try and glimpse the damage. "Yeah, looks as though I am."

Erin quickly unwrapped her silverware and handed him the cloth napkin. "Oh I'm so sorry Alex. I swear I didn't mean to."

Alex quickly wiped his lip. "It was an accident," he said, trying to keep her from losing it. He smiled widely and ignored the stinging that pressed against his lips as the cut was stretched with the tightening of his skin. He felt a drop of blood seep out of the cut and drip slightly down his chin before he intercepted it with the napkin.

"Oh Alex," she giggled.

Alex continued to smile. Erin was rather cute when she laughed. "Are you laughing at my pain?"

Erin continued to giggle. "I'm sorry," she gasped as she searched for breath. "You just look so silly with that stupid cut."

Alex shook his head and laughed as well. He couldn't help it. It was slightly infectious.

When the waiter brought their food, he was very disgruntled to find that his customers had gone completely insane. He hoped that meant he'd get an ample tip.

* * *

After dinner the pair went by foot to Central Park, stopping en-route to pick up quick cones of ice cream and drop quarters into the cups by the homeless men ready to curl up and sleep on the side of the street after a long day. 

Erin was beautiful, no matter what they guys thought. She truly was. And she was kind of funny, but she did have this annoying thing she did when she laughed: she'd clap her hands… And she'd cluck her tongue and fidget every time it was quiet even for an instant, but Alex didn't notice.

"And so this cute little girl equipped with a teddy bear and those big brown eyes is sitting there and I have to give her a shot, but every time I came near her she would start to cry like crazy. I felt so bad, I had to get her mother to pin her to the bed so that I could inject. Poor thing refused to talk to her mom for her entire visit to my office." Oh, and she was incredibly intelligent and a real, live doctor. Alex was officially impressed.

"You must really love children," he commented as he walked down her block in the Village.

She nodded and her eyes clouded over. "I do. They're just so… refreshing, you know? Being around them is like having one of the greatest adventures you could ever dream of. Every moment is so… exciting."

Alex nodded. He understood… to some extent. Peter always seemed so excited when he got to spend time with Allie. Maybe there was something he was missing? Maybe _children_ were what was missing.

"Alex?"

"Huh?" He looked up from studying the cracks in the sidewalk as he walked, to see that Erin had stopped walking and was holding her key.

"This is my building. You kind of spaced out there."

Alex shook his head. Thoughts of little brunette children running around making stupid, politically incorrect, homosexual jokes and singing country music at the top of their lungs wiped away just as quickly as they'd snuck up on him. He walked back to where Erin was standing, jingling her apartment keys with a nervous smile pressed against her lips that he returned.

As soon as his lips parted in a grin, Erin had lost herself in laughter again… clapping away.

"What's so funny?" he asked as she tried to subside her laughter.

"You look like such an idiot with that stupid cut," she replied, still highly amused that she'd manage to make him bleed off a simple piece of bread.

"Yeah, thanks for that," he said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry!" she protested again. She'd said it multiple times now, but every time she seemed so highly amused that Alex refused to believe her.

"I've never met a doctor that goes around making people bleed," he said with a light teasing tone as she covered her mouth with her hands, trying to hold in her laughter.

"It doesn't matter if we hurt them, as long as we make sure to make it better," she said as she dropped her hands and regained her composure, but a blinking grin was still spread across her lips.

"And what, Erin Trescott, are you going to do to make it better?"

"Hmm," Erin sighed as she pondered such a question. Suddenly she smiled even brighter and her eyes met Alex's. "I think I have an idea."

Alex saw it coming. "And what might that be?" Yes, he saw it coming and was very obliging as he played along.

"Kiss and make it better."

* * *

Alex closed the door behind him with a loud clunk and leaned against its solid surface, reliving every moment from the night. He didn't know many first dates, but he knew that that was a good one. And yet- 

"Al, you finally home?" Hal called from the TV area. His voice sounded stressed. Hal stressed? Alex shook the thought away. It was just too foreign for him.

As Alex rounded the corner to follow Hal's voice and discover the root of the problem, he was very shocked to find not just Hal, but Peter and Daniel sitting quietly on his sofa. In all the time he'd known each of these three men, he'd never known them to be this quiet. "What's up? What are all you guys doing here?"

Peter took a deep breath. Hal winced. Daniel didn't move an inch.

"Dude…? Daniel what are you doing here?" Alex was highly confused. "I thought tonight was _the night."_

Daniel slowly turned his head and his bloodshot eyes caught Alex's attention. "It was," he said numbly, his voice sounding raw and hurt. "She said no."

Alex suddenly felt lightheaded. "How could she?" He needed to sit down. He squeezed himself onto his small couch along with the three other grown men and took awhile to come to grips with the situation. Of all the horrible things that Alex expected this marriage to come to, the marriage never actually taking place was probably the only disaster he hadn't predicted. Ironically, it was probably the worst one of them all.

"We need to get out of here. Do something," Alex proclaimed eventually, unable to bear the thick silence that shrouded them.

"Strip club?" Hal asked his face lighting up like a dog that smelled his favorite treat.

Peter shook his head. "No strip club. Maggs would kill me."

"I know!" Hal shouted excitedly, jumping off the crowded sofa and racing down Alex's adjacent hallway. He came back moments later with a large bottle of rum and a huge cardboard box. "Let's get drunk and watch Pete's porn collection!"

"How did you find that?" Alex asked in shock.

"Oh c'mon Al!" Hal replied as he pulled four glasses out of the cardboard box and passed them around, then unscrewed the fresh bottle of rum. "Everyone knows where you keep your porn."

"Under that squeaky floorboard in your room," Daniel sighed numbly as he quickly gulped down the hefty amount of rum that Hal had poured him and held out his glass for more.

"Way to keep a secret Al," Peter grumbled, upset that Alex hadn't kept his promise of secrecy.

"I didn't tell!" Alex protested.

"And he didn't have to," Hal added as he rummaged through the giant box. "You honestly think there's a porn collection on this entire planet that I wouldn't find?"

"Too true," Daniel sighed as he held up his glass in the air. He dropped it and it clattered across the room, thumping against the hardwood floor, but miraculously not breaking. Daniel merely shrugged and grabbed the bottle, trying to take a sip despite the cap having been put back on.

"Yes!" Hal shouted victoriously as he pulled out an ambiguous black tape. "This one's my favorite!"

Peter blushed crimson. "Oh god! Tomorrow I'm throwing the whole box away."

Hal had never been so offended. "Sacrilege!"

_

* * *

_

_What's this? A Chapter despite my claims that this story was going on pause? Let me clarify the term "pause." What I really meant was… no more regular updates. I will post when I have the motivation and the time to write. God I love it too much to just forget it exists! _

_For other clarification… I don't think that Erin is the crazy chick I was talking about. She's actually pretty cool. I think that's what makes me hate her so much. Sorry about that. I can't help it. But the crazy chick is definitely making an appearance in the next chap and then a couple after that. I consider her an amazingly horrible/ even worse version of Mrs. DeBourgh. Trust me. She's every man's worst nightmare. _

_In other news: I've finished Abbreviated and Un-fabricated. Despite having yet to post the epilogue, it is written and so I can check that baby off! Woop!_

_Also, I think I've finally worked out my ending for this story. I think I managed to discern a kind of bitter-sweet thing… but let's not worry about that yet. We aren't even close to half-way. (Despite the fact that I'd originally only planned on 20 chapters.)_

_(I only did one read-through. Sorry if it has extreme grammatical/spelling issues.)_

_Now, tell me about your torrid love affair with Alex and how much you missed him while he was gone. That's a command. Review, I say!_


	11. Heartbreak Town

_**Love to the Tune of a Country Song**_

"Well I was talking with my baby  
Over a small glass of tea  
He asked the loaded question  
He said how do you feel about me  
My mind was racin' I was pacin'  
But the word just wouldn't come  
And there was only one thing  
Left to do I feel it comin' on

"Some days you gotta dance  
Live it up when you get the chance  
Cause when the world doesn't make no sense  
And you're feeling just a little too tense  
Gotta loosen up those chains and dance."

-The Dixie Chicks; "_Heartbreak Town"_

* * *

Things were getting complicated. Mistakes were being made. The boy and the girl were in denial and in trouble. Both of them were haunted by thoughts of the other, but as one pushed them aside the other clung to them with all his might. In a weird way, thoughts of our girl carried him through his life just as much as they detached him from it. 

But it didn't matter how hard they tried not to think about each other or even that the thoughts existed at all. It didn't matter because the paths of the boy and the girl were suddenly winding closer and closer together. The thought weren't important; it was the flesh and living figures that were about to crash into each other.

If only they had had walked out of the collision unscathed…

* * *

"Why aren't you married yet, Alex Crink?" 

Alex slowly set down his wine glass on his kitchen counter and blinked multiple times at the beautiful girl in front of him. He was quiet, contemplating the question—or was it merely a statement? Alex couldn't tell. He hesitated to try and articulate a single thought. His mind was suddenly and irrevocably blank.

He hesitated too long. Erin fidgeted and backed away quickly, her face a bright red. "I freaked you out, didn't I?" she asked her face flushed with guilt.

"Freaked me out?"

"I said the M-word. It freaked you out, didn't it? It's okay. Plenty of guys freak out about that kind of thing I just didn't think and the next thing I know, I'd just kind of spit it out and—"

Alex took two quick steps across his kitchen and managed to fill the gap between them with ease. He quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her squarely on the lips. "You're kind of cute when you ramble," he said with a simple smile as he pulled away.

Erin was white with shock. Never had such a simple kiss left her quite so… speechless. Alex had a power about him—especially a power over women. She'd noticed that no man seemed to be able to render an entire room of ladies speechless with a full-blown grin like Alex Crink could.

"Again: Why aren't you married by now? Why hasn't some amazing looking model type girl snatched you up and holed the two of you up in your penthouse apartment?"

Alex blushed slightly. If anyone was oblivious to Alex's powers, it was Alex… and possibly Hal, but what wasn't Hal oblivious to? "This isn't a penthouse, in case you haven't noticed." He pointed up to the ceiling where there was a slight tapping from the floor above them. It was soft, because fancy apartment buildings can afford much better insulation than most, but it was still there. Alex, like most other apartment dwellers, had merely learned to tune it out.

"So is that why, then?" Erin asked with amusement. "No girl will marry you because you can hear the tapping of the apartment above you?"

"Tragic, but true," he replied with mocking sadness.

Erin knocked into his elbow, silently asking him to be at least slightly more serious.

"You want to know the truth?" he asked, doubt written in capital letters across his face. As Erin nodded eagerly, Alex begrudgingly began the terrible tale of Kim. He hated to think about it. It was the relationship from hell and sometimes it still gave him nightmares. "She was blond and very model type. She was kind of like every man's fantasy—on the outside at least. Inside, she was conniving, self conscience, needy, controlling and well just about every horrible thing you could think of. I let her control me. I couldn't believe my luck and so for awhile it was fine. She was in control and I was with an amazing looking woman.

"But eventually I looked at her and I no longer saw the most attractive woman I'd ever seen in real life. I started to see her insecurities, because that was all she ever talked about. I started to see that she'd begun to alienate me from my best friends. My friend, Pete's wife—Maggie—I wasn't even allowed to be alone with Maggie. Kim was insanely jealous of her.

"We'd break up at least once a month and be back together after a couple of weeks. She wouldn't ever just let it end. But it's over now—oh god is it over."

Erin smiled slightly. "Sounds… intense."

Alex nodded slowly. "Yeah, kind of. It wasn't that bad though. I knew that I would never marry Kim. I knew it would never be more than a manipulative relationship, so I think that helped me not get in too deep. But I did waste about three years on her. I kind of regret that."

"Well that explains it then."

"Explains what?" Alex asked cautiously.

"Why you're not married." Erin picked up her wine glass again and took a deep sip. Alex didn't know what it was about her but he got this odd feeling—like she was keeping something from him; like she was hiding a facial expression in the glass of wine. He frowned slightly. That was odd.

"So!" Erin quickly squealed as she set down her glass. "What else should I know about your friends before I meet them?"

Alex continued to frown for a short moment, contemplating the abrupt conversation redirection. Oh well. He was just being paranoid. "Well first off you need to be warned about Hal. He'll try to hit on you because he's convinced that no sane woman would ever pick me over him. Then there's Pete. Don't say the words 'wife' or 'daughter.' You'll never get him to shut up about his wife or daughter."

"Aw," Erin sighed. "That's cute."

"Cute?" Alex echoed in disgust. "No. Not cute. Absolutely nauseating."

Erin nodded once, obviously not bothering to open that door.

"I doubt that Daniel will be here. He's—um well he's going through a rough time, which is all the more reason to avoid the word 'wife' and 'daughter'. The last thing he needs is one of Pete's sentimental monologues."

"No sentimental monologues. Got it," she replied, trying to keep track of all these little details.

"And then there's Tanner. Tanner's a workaholic so try not to get him started about his latest project. It's consuming his life."

"And Tanner's your best friend above all?" Erin asked smiling.

"And no. I already gave him specific instructions not to share any embarrassing stories about me. He'll keep his big mouth shut."

Erin looked slightly disappointed. "Ok. I think I got it. Hal's the pervert, Pete's the daddy, Daniel's the heartbroken one, and Tanner's your workaholic best friend. How'd I do?"

Alex grinned and poked her on her cute little button nose. "Perfect."

"Just one more question," she said with hesitation. "How do you play poker again?"

Alex bit his bottom lip, preparing himself to give her a crash course in all things poker related, but as he heard the door to his apartment burst open and the obnoxious clatter of his four best friends stampeding through the door he realized he was too late. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" he asked with reluctance.

Erin smiled back confidently. "I'm a doctor Alex. How hard could it be?"

* * *

Alex smiled thinly for the final time at his beautiful girl as he slowly slid the door closed, whispering quick goodbyes. He took a second to compose himself before he set off back in to the lion's den. He took his seat back at the unnaturally quiet poker table, with only the click of the chips as each man tossed theirs into a pile to fill the heavy silence. 

"So…" Hal began eventually, unable to stand the silence a second longer. Alex looked at him expectantly, waiting for the inevitable.

"Yep," Pete added, agreeing with the shared thought that no one wanted to speak.

"That was… interesting." Even Tanner had nothing else to say. Alex suddenly felt very self conscience.

It wasn't that Erin's meeting with the boys had been horrible. It was that it had been an absolute disaster. First she accidentally spilled Hal's beer all over their table. That was embarrassing, but forgivable. Then there was the fact that she'd been unnaturally quiet the whole night. Then, and worst of all, she managed to bring up the topic of marriage to Daniel, despite Alex's specific warnings. Needless to say Daniel had left in quite the rage, with a beer soaked crotch. Erin had practically sprinted out the door after that, leaving the rest of the guys in a numb and very awkward circle around a soaking wet poker table with cards that were completely ruined by beer.

"At least she was hot," Hal tried to offer to placate the tension.

Alex grimaced. "She's not normally like that. I knew it was too early to let her meet you."

"Or—" Tanner began, but quickly stopped himself.

All three other guys looked at him blankly.

"Or what?" Alex prodded.

Tanner took a long sip on his beer before he braced himself for what he was about to say. "Or…" he started again with emphasis. "You subconsciously wanted her to meet us, knowing that it would be a disaster, because you're trying to ruin what could possibly become a functional relationship."

Alex blinked at his best friend several times before the anger set in. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

Tanner shrugged and avoided eye contact with Alex.

"Actually," Peter began, ignoring Alex as he began stacking all the chips they'd been tossing lazily across the table ever since Erin had left. "That _does_ seem like something you'd do."

"Why the hell would I do that?" Alex asked, with his face pinched together in a bitter anger.

Peter shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps you're a bit scared."

"Scared? What's he got to be scared of? Some flighty chick?" Hal began, taking Alex's side on principle alone. "Plus, Alex doesn't need some stupid relationship like you do Peter. He's perfectly functional by himself."

"Thanks Hal," Alex muttered, his anger abating.

"Don't thank me you great loser!" Hal shouted, still riled up over his spilt beer. "You're a horrible relationship ruin-er!"

"What?" Alex replied numbly. The anger was back in record timing. "I'm the relationship ruin-er? You're the one who's never been in a functional relationship."

"Guys, let's not point fingers!" Tanner shouted, jumping up to prevent a fight between the two cousins.

"I'll point my finger wherever I want Tanner," Hal shouted, jabbing Tanner in the chest with his index finger.

Suddenly, Hal and Tanner peeled over in laughter. Moments later, Alex and Peter joined them. It didn't matter that it had been an absolutely horrible night. It didn't matter that each of the four of them had severe issues; suddenly the whole thing just struck them as funny. Time heals all wounds, for these four guys, five minutes was time enough.

* * *

Kill the Moonlight, Stab the Sun 

Thursday, June

Mood: Tropical

Music: Settle for a Slowdown; Dierks Bentley

Florida is great. I just spent a week on a beach in Boca Raton. A week? Is that all?

Yes. Yes it is. Have you ever been to Boca? Not much to see but a very pretty beach and a lot of old people.

I left Seattle in a bit of a rush. Remember George? Stupid jerk is… (get this) MARRIED! With kids. _Two_ of them. Can you believe I went out with that ass hole?! Needless to say I sprinted out of that city as soon as they showed up to surprise him when he was playing at the café one day. God. Ass holes. Is there a single man in the world who isn't a lying cheating bastard? Luckily… I'd only ever kissed that scheming jack ass.

Anyway. I've been having horrible tequila cravings. It's weird, isn't it? Tequila is the drink of grief. I'm not grieving am I? I have nothing to be sad about. I have the absolute perfect life. I am happy.

Geeze, I need to get out of this geriatric hideaway and find some people my own age. A friend from college asked me to come up and visit her. I figured I should go. She was my absolute best friend in school and, to be honest, I miss her. She's a blast. We always seem to have fun together. So I actually made plans to visit her in about a month. Gasp. Does this mean I'm maturing?

Oh God I hope not.

Plus, I love her husband. He's probably one of the coolest guys on the planet. They basically make the ideal couple. A highly entertaining pair. I'm actually looking forward to seeing them.

In other news, apparently Drew is fitting in well back in Selma. In fact, he's the talk of the town (all four people). He and Kara, that is. They've recently announced their relationship to the world. This is highly shocking and repulsive—Kara could do so much better, but at least he's over me.

Ha. Claire owes me five bucks. I tried to tell her that he only _thought _he was in love with me.

They all always just think they are, but they get along just fine without me. In fact, they probably do better without me than they would with me. Like… to pick a random name out of my recent exploits, let's say Tanner's friend—Alex. Ok so Alex and I got rather… close in the woods one night, but I'll bet you anything that he doesn't even remember me. In fact, I can hardly recall him. Alex. Ha. Pfft. Who cares about that stupid Frat Boy?

Not me, that's for sure.

Back to my point. Alex doesn't remember me. He probably doesn't even care. ( Although I'm pretty sure Alex didn't even like me from the beginning. Stupid, pretentious, jerk…) I'm hardly a spider. I'm more of a mirage. They, all of them, only think they want me, but as soon as I'm gone I'm as good as forgotten.

Which reminds me, it's time to get going.

Coming to a town near you,

Andy Holly

* * *

"I'm free!" Peter shouted excitedly as he flopped onto Alex's sofa and lay there for a few minutes. "I'm a free man, Alex!" 

"I think Maggie might be a bit upset if she knew you reacted this way when she left town."

"Who cares about Maggie? I'm free!" he shouted, once again basking in the possibilities like a little kid thinking about his pile of Christmas presents.

Alex winced and threw the first thing he could find at Peter: A _Maxim_ magazine. Odd. Where had a _Maxim_ come from? Hal must have taken out another subscription in Alex's name.

"What should we do first?" Peter was as excited as a little boy. Every time Maggie left town he tended to think that was an excuse for him to paint the town red. "How about we just hit a few bars or something. Oh! Maybe a club. And strippers! I haven't seen a stripper in so long, Alex. So, so long."

"Maybe you should stay with Hal. Doing stupid things isn't really up my alley," Alex replied, stating the obvious.

"No! Don't make me stay at Hal's! He has no furniture."

Oh right. Alex had forgotten that little detail.

"Fine, but no strippers."

Peter frowned, pouting like a little kid. "Ack. You're no fun."

* * *

"Alex!" 

Alex held the phone as far from his ear as he possibly could. "Ow," he muttered into his fancy office phone as soon as the excited voice was finished shouting. "If I'd known I was going to get a greeting like that, I'd have called earlier."

"You should call more anyway."

"Sorry Anna. Things got a bit hectic," he replied, defending himself against her accusations.

"Too hectic for your poor widowed stepmother?"

"Aye. Cinderella's been attending the balls."

Anna's chirpy laughter hiccoughed over the phone and Alex had to smile. He loved his stepmother's laugh. He remembered the first time he ever met her. His father had merely told him that he would be meeting a friend, but Alex wasn't stupid. He knew that friend was code for a woman. He knew that his father was looking for a replacement for the only person in Alex's life that could never be replaced. But if she could have been, Anna would have done the job.

He was a boy of twelve, socially awkward, intelligent beyond his years. They were having chicken for dinner that night. Alex still remembered waiting for the doorbell to ring so that he could meet this woman that was so important that she took precedence over Alex for his father's few available free moments. He was expecting a witch—a real Cruella.

But when the doorbell rang it wasn't Cruella. It was Anna, a bright and bubbly little brunette in a floating dress with soft brown curls and that same girly laugh that made Alex actually feel comfortable. He was twelve—it was weird for him to bond with anybody that quickly, but Anna found a way. Anna was his best friend and soon she would become his relative.

"Did you just say 'aye' Alex?" She laughed again and Alex found himself smiling uncontrollably. "And to think I thought I'd raised you better than that."

"Let's go ahead and blame that on the influence of my father then. How's that sound?"

"Perfect. They are his corrupt genes you have Alex—which reminds me: Are you bald yet?"

Alex shook his head. "No Anna. I'm not bald. Plus, I think you'd know. It hasn't been that long since I've seen you."

She sighed over the phone. "Yes. Six months. It's hardly the blink of an eye to an old fart like me."

"Old fart? Gastrointestinal problems already? And to think—you made fun of the inevitability of my hair thinning. Dirty hypocrite."

Anna laughed again. Alex envied her ability to still smile and laugh so freely. She'd lost the love of her life when his father had died. Alex admired her ability to function. He could barely function and he'd lost nothing except a needy girlfriend.

"How are you Alex?" Her voice alternated from friendly banter to motherly worry with ease. Sure, genetically she wasn't his mother, but endless hours helping her bake PTO muffins and unwrapping frumpy sweaters from her every Christmas meant she was about as close as she could ever be to becoming his mom.

"Oh, I'm good."

"Good? Not ecstatic or uncontrollably happy?"

"Nope."

"What about content? Can you settle for content?"

Alex shook his head and wrapped the cord to his phone around his finger. "Nope. Not content."

"Anxious? Angry? Constipated?"

Alex laughed lightly and tried to suppress images of the other night's poker debacle with Erin. "Constipated. Definitely constipated," he confirmed.

"Oh. Well constipated is better than nothing. Are you in love yet?"

Alex might have been shocked, but he was used to this question and chuckled with the inevitability of it. Anna had been asking him this since he could remember. When he'd confessed to her his minor crush on the most popular girl in their middle school all she had to say was "Are you in love yet?" When he got his first dog, his first girlfriend (even if it was much later than it was for most kids), his first heartbreak this had been her very first question. Over the years it had become regular. As their time together became more and more spaced out, the question had become a routine way to get right to the point. Love was the most important thing Anna could ever imagine. She'd want to know if her son was in love as soon as he knew himself.

"Madly."

"Ooh. With whom?" she gasped, mocking his sarcasm.

"Oh, you know, just some girl."

"Oh. How does she feel about bald men?"

Alex smiled again. "Oh she thinks they're unbelievably sexy."

"Good. Make sure she knows what's coming for you then."

"Anna," he warned, growing tired of the game and begging her with his tone for it to stop.

Anna sighed. "You know, you should get out there more often. At this rate Pammie will be married before you."

"What rate? Pammie shouldn't be moving at any rate yet."

"Tell that to Edward."

"What!" Alex shouted. "My baby sister has a boyfriend?"

"Oh Alex, she's not a baby anymore. She's fifteen. It's perfectly normal for a fifteen year old girl to have a boyfriend."

"What? Is he like sixty? No one since the 1940s has named their kid Edward?"

Anna laughed. "Don't be mean to Edward. He's a sweet kid. Reminds me a bit of you actually."

Alex shifted uncomfortably in his office chair. Pamela was far too you for a relationship. In fact, if you asked Alex, even he was too young for a relationship. That would explain why he made so many mistakes.

"You really shouldn't worry. She's not going to marry the boy. They're just kids."

Alex bit his lip. He couldn't speak for himself, but he knew what Hal was doing with girls when he was fifteen, and Alex didn't like it. "I have to go," he muttered darkly into the phone.

"Oh Alex don't call her!" Anna laughed.

"I think I have the right to speak with my sister about this."

"Can't you just speak with her when she visits this summer? You're just going to make her angry and then you'll have to drive all the way down here so that you can apologize. It's just silly to start a war over something so trivial."

"I think I have the right to protect my sister's virtue."

"Virtue…" She was laughing uncontrollably now. "Alex you definitely need to get out more. Goodbye Alex. Go out and do something crazy for once."

She hung up on him before he could defend himself.

Boyfriend? What's a fifteen year old need a boyfriend for anyway? Alex stared at the phone fighting an internal battle. It would be so easy to just dial her number and give her a little piece of what he thought. _So_ easy. He even had her phone number memorized.

He was just about to pick up the phone and call when it rang. He cautiously picked up. "Hello?" he asked. Wouldn't it be weird if Pamela had called right at that moment…

But instead it was Peter. "Strippers!" he shouted leaving it simple.

Alex shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Call Hal. I'm not going to some seedy strip joint with you in the middle of the afternoon."

"Does that mean we could go tonight?"

Alex hung up. He hoped that was response enough.

Now, with an amused expression he had a whole new person to call and bother. He waited through three rings before someone picked up. "Maggie, I absolutely hate it when you go out of town and stick me with your demented husband."

Maggie sighed into the phone. "Oh no. What's he doing now?"

"Trying to make me take him barhopping. When have I ever been the barhopping type?"

"He's trying to make you go to a strip club isn't he?"

Alex blushed red-hot. Maggie knew her husband way too well.

"Well you better take him. He won't shut up until he gets to go."

Alex was still red. How amazing of a wife do you have to be in order to convince your husband's friends that they should take you to a strip club? Alex wanted someone cool like that. In fact he wished he wasn't such an idiot that he'd ignored Maggie when he could have had her.

"Sorry Alex. Allie and I need a break from the lunatic or else we'd be as crazy as he is. You have to take him to the strip club. He won't let you sleep until he gets to go."

Alex sighed. "Fine. I'll take him. But I won't enjoy it," he agreed begrudgingly.

"Right. Sure you won't." Maggie really liked to lay on the sarcasm. "By the way, I heard about what happened with Erin. Is she going to get the boot?"

Alex sighed. He didn't have any idea. He was hoping that Erin was just having an off-night. Daniel still wouldn't talk to any of the guys. Maybe a strip club wasn't such a bad idea after all…

"Do you think that fifteen is too young to have a boyfriend?" he blurted out, purposely changing the topic.

"First off, you're hardly fifteen anymore, and a boyfriend? Alex is there something you want to tell me?"

Alex rolled his eyes. "It's Pammie. Apparently she has a boyfriend."

"Aw! How cute is that?"

"Would it be cute if it was Allie with the boyfriend?"

"For me? Yes. For Peter? Hide the shotgun."

Alex nodded his head. That was something he could picture Peter doing.

"You really shouldn't worry about Pammie, Al. She's growing up. You can't take away those experiences from her and even if you could, would you want to?"

"Yes. Yes I would."

"Ugh you men. You'd love to sleep with the next girl you see, but when it's your daughter or sister you freak out. Freaks. All of you are freaks."

"She's too young."

Maggie sighed on her line of the phone. "Listen Al. Have a little faith. Men aren't that horrible that they feel the need to take advantage of every girl they meet."

"Yes. Yes we are."

"Like what? What's happened that's so horrible that you have no faith in your fellow man?"

Alex didn't know what made him say it. It just kind of slipped out without thinking. "Like how Peter only proposed to you out of guilt because he's kissed that Amy girl from the third floor in his office."

Yes. Of course it was stupid. _This_ was why Alex wasn't married.

Maggie gasped into the phone and when she spoke again her voice was hard and cold. "Alex. I'll have to call you back."

Oh was he in trouble.

* * *

Alex shut down his computer. It was time to go home and face the strippers. He'd avoided all thoughts of Peter and Maggie all day, while still clinging to the hope that he hadn't ruined their marriage. 

"Finally leaving, Alex?" Eadie asked, not even looking up from the book she was reading at her desk that stood right outside Alex's office.

"Yep. Any messages?" he asked reluctantly. After his little slip-up he'd held all calls, hoping to delay facing such a huge problem.

"Well Hal called. He wants to know where you put his latest _Maxim_." Eadie hid a secretive smile while Alex blushed at his cousin's antics. Alex would never call Hal's office and ask where he kept his soft porn. But if he did, Hal probably wouldn't have been angry. Just the opposite in fact.

Eadie continued to read off his messages. "You got three calls from Peter, most of which left messages that were some variation of 'I hate you.' I took liberties censoring that though." Eadie loved Alex's friends. They were all highly entertaining. It made her day just a little bit more interesting.

Alex gulped with the pending dread of what he'd be facing when he got home.

"And Craig Morgan called again. He still wants to meet."

Both of them frowned silently. Their minds each drifted in the same direction. What the hell did Craig Morgan want so badly that he wouldn't stop calling about? Whatever it was, Alex had a feeling in his gut that he wouldn't like it.

He took a deep breath and picked back up his laptop case. "Thanks Eadie," he replied, still frowning about Craig Morgan's persistent calls. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Eadie smiled. "Only if Peter doesn't kill you first. Goodnight Alex."

* * *

Alex wearily peered through the door to his apartment, his head popping through the small space that he'd permitted the door to crack open. As soon as he saw Maggie glaring at him as she stood directly in front of the door he was peering through, he tried to pull back out, but he just wasn't fast enough and only managed to shut the door on his neck. 

As he yelped in pain, Maggie pulled him into his apartment to sit beside a very puce Peter on Alex's leather sofa. "Explain," she commanded as Alex rubbed his sore neck and Peter looked as though he was about to regurgitate his lunch.

"Maggie," Alex sighed, trying to sound soothing. Her eyes were blazing and her voice was far too hard for this to really be Maggie. Maggie was cool and relaxed. Not some sort of scary robot-woman. "This is my fault. I shouldn't have said that."

"Is it true?" she asked, staring beadily at the two men who sat crunched together on the sofa.

Alex bit his tongue and contemplating the best way to answer that question. He could tell the truth and possibly ruin one of his best friend's marriage, or he could lie and know that he'd just deceived one of the few women on the planet that deserved to never be let down.

"Did Peter make out with his coworker?" she asked, hardly waiting long enough for Alex to truly weigh his options.

Alex swiped a quick look at his pale and sweaty friend. Poor Peter's fate lay in the palm of Alex's hand. Alex hated having that kind of power. "No," he stated softly, his gut wrenching in guilt at his lie. But in the end, what was more important? Peter's happiness or Alex's sense of justification?

"He's lying," Peter stated, before Maggie could let Alex's lie sink in. "I did. I kissed her."

Maggie's face flushed all sense of color and she suddenly slumped right there where she'd stood towering over the two of them just moments before. The fiery little woman now seemed weak and scared.

"And I don't regret it either," Peter added. Alex winced. It seemed as though Peter was merely pouring salt in the wound. "I don't regret it because if I hadn't kissed that Amy girl maybe I wouldn't have realized how unbelievably perfect you were for me. That kiss made me realize that you were the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."

Maggie seemed to crumble into a million pieces and suddenly let out a great sob. "It was all fake wasn't it?" she asked as she gasped for breath.

Peter quickly jumped off the sticky sofa and wrapped his sobbing wife in his arms. "Of course it wasn't, Maggs. Everyday that goes by I realize again and again how much I love you. You're my perfect woman. I love you more than anything in the world. One stupid kiss forever ago would never change the millions that we've shared."

Maggie collapsed into him and shoved her face into the crick of his neck. As she cried her eyes out, Alex edged out of the room. This was personal, and he was intruding.

As he was backing out of the room he heard the smack of skin against skin, as if someone had been slapped, and Maggie growl, "Get off me, you oaf. You smell like a strip club!" He smiled and knew everything was going to be okay.

Did it really matter what had caused Peter to realize that Maggie was the only woman for him, as long as he realized it? Alex didn't think so. He lay down heavily on his bed and sighed, trying to push away the image of him pulling his own little fiery brunette into the crook of his neck. Although, Alex really couldn't picture _her_ crying in his imagination—she would never allow herself to be the vulnerable. But, just like with Peter, when it was right, you just kind of knew.

Alex suddenly knew.

He sighed and rolled over, reaching out to his bedside table to grab his phone. He had a call to make and he couldn't put it off any longer.

"Erin? Hey. I think we need to talk."

_

* * *

Alas! An update. It has taken me far too long and a few too many sleepless nights but I finally managed to get an entire chapter written. Originally, this and the next chapter were just one big chapter, but I thought I could split it up pretty well. My (very, very) deluded version of Catheine DeBourgh will appear (for sure this time) in the next chapter._

_Now I realize this took forever and that I probably won't get another chapter written until Thanksgiving, but give a girl a break. I'm very busy and I suffer from the opposite of writers block and I can't seem to make the plot bunnies stop attacking me. I know you're probably frustrated (if you even still follow this story) that I keep starting new things. I'm sorry! I can't help myself, but just so you know I'll always come back to this one. It's my favorite out of all of them._

_And as for Peter. I think sometimes guys do stupid thing just so they can prove themselves tenfold by redeeming themselves. A while ago, when I posted that one little paragraph about each of Alex's friend's little indiscretions, some people were kind of upset, and they might feel that way now that I've brought up Peter' major mistake for the second time. But I still stand by my choice. It's important that these flaws are brought to the surface. That's reality. Real people make mistakes. Good people at least try to make up for it in the end._

_Anyway. Give me one more chapter and then we get to the good part. My absolute favorite part!_

_Pfft. Review if you wish. I always read them. I always enjoy them. But I don't want you to feel pressured…_

_Oh and just so you know. This was attempted to have been posted earlier, but apparently I broke some sort of guideline and it wouldn't let me post for about a week. I still expect an update for another one of my stories pretty soon._


	12. I'm Movin' On

For Dee, in honor of her persistence.

_**Love to the Tune of a Country Song**_

"I've lived in this place and I know all the faces  
Each one is different but they're always the same  
They mean no harm but it's time that I face it  
They'll never allow me to change  
But I never dreamed home would end up where I don't belong  
I'm movin' on

"I'm movin' on  
At last I can see life has been patiently waiting for me  
And I know there's no guarantee's, but I'm not alone  
There comes a time in everyone's life  
When all you can see are the years passing by  
And I have made up my mind that those days are gone."

-Rascal Flatts; _I'm Movin' On

* * *

_

Now this is the part in the story where things start to get scary. Would you prefer me to skip it? No? Fine then, I'll continue.

Life was at a standstill. Sure things moved on, the boy got a haircut, the girl found a whole new town, and time continued to pass, albeit slowly.

But like waves upon the shore, two worlds inevitably collide.

* * *

Alex took a long swig of coffee and another bite of his plain bagel. Sure his old bagel shop had shut down almost two months ago, but he'd bravely ventured into the shop that was nestled safely across the street from the old one. And one adventurous day, he'd braved taking a chance on a cup of coffee and was glad that he had. He quite liked their coffee. Although their plain bagels would never be as dense as the old shop, he was slowly adjusting to this drastic change. 

What he'd never get used to, however, was being stood up.

Sure Kim had "forgotten" about plenty of their dates and left him high and dry on multiple occasions while she had in fact been gallivanting across the city with whatever naive millionaire was dumb enough to actually seek her company for the evening. But she was supposed to be different.

Alex took another draining sip of coffee. Now was not the time to get worked up over his ex. He'd come here for a reason. Although, with each passing moment that reason seemed less and less pertinent and was slowly being replaced with bitter disappointment.

"I'm late," came his companion's voice as his cute little blond dropped into the chair opposite his and wiped her hair determinedly out of her face. She looked exhausted and discombobulated, and Alex had forgiven the delay before she'd even begun to apologize profusely.

He handed her the bagel he'd gotten her and she smiled appreciatively. "Plain?" she asked peering into the bag.

Alex shrugged. "I didn't know what kind you'd want so I went with the safest bet."

Erin nodded knowingly. "It's salt, just for future references. I absolutely love salt bagels."

"Salt?" he confirmed. "Risky," he pointed out, unable to discern if he found her adventurous choice to be sexy, or dangerous. Perhaps he was reading a bit too much into it. It was only a bagel after all.

Erin smiled and lathered on the cream cheese. "So," she prodded taking her first bite. "What did you want to talk about?"

Alex hesitated for a moment, but Erin was too preoccupied with her bagel to notice. "I know this is going to sound abrupt, but"-Was it better to be direct or pander a little?- "It's just…" He took a deep breath and took the plunge. "Where do you think this relationship is going?"

Erin stopped mid-bite and slowly lowered her bagel back onto her plate. She looked up at him, slightly confused. "I don't know," she replied caustically. "I thought we were just taking things slow." She looked off into the distance for a moment before realizing that all there was to look at was some fading yellow wallpaper and some ambiguous paintings that slightly resembled fruit. But something about that fruit changed her track and she decided to take her reply in an entirely different manner. "I like you Alex," was all she could come up with.

Alex smiled feebly; she tried not to let those dimples get the best of her. "I like you too," he replied.

There was a heavy silence. Neither of them could figure out why their relationship had become so strained. Eventually it was Erin who spoke first. "There's a big 'but' hanging in this general area," she said swooping her arms broadly across the space between them. She dropped her arms, slightly pathetically, but kept her head held high and her eyes sparkling. "This has to do with poker night, doesn't it?"

Alex briefly considered lying to her, but it just didn't seem worth it, so instead he nodded slowly. "That, and other things." He took a deep breath and rubbed his temples just like he always did when he was frustrated. "In all honesty, and I'm not just saying this, I'm in a pretty fucked up place right now."

Erin stared at that damn painting again. What kind of fruit was it? She couldn't even tell. "Is it weird that that only makes me more attracted to you?"

Alex chuckled softly. "A little weird, I'll admit." He screwed up his concentration, now was not the time to get distracted by a couple of pathetic jokes. "The thing is, I'm really attracted to you too. And I meant it when I said that I like you. I really do."

"So. What now then?" she asked blankly, slightly confused. "Do you want to break up? Start over? What?'

Alex shrugged noncommittally.

"Take a break?" she suggested.

Alex looked up. "Would it be wrong for me to ask that?"

Erin shrugged. "No, not really." She smiled, genuinely, as shocking as that may sound. "Actually- and this may sound kind of horrible- but it's kind of perfect."

"Really?" Alex asked suspiciously. He wasn't strictly conceited, but was it wrong for him to hope that she might put up a bit of a fight or possibly offer some sort of ultimatum. Even Kim had protested about ending things, and that relationship had been dead for months.

Erin nodded eagerly. "Yeah, it's actually really exciting."

Alex scowled. Talk about bruising a guy's ego.

"I was invited to spend a month in Rome teaching this course for this international internship program and I was kind of wondering if you'd be okay with that. But taking a break would solve that problem, right?"

Alex nodded and smiled. It was one thing to be broken up with, but trading a guy for a month in Italy was completely understandable to Alex. "That sounds really interesting."

Erin nodded eagerly again and smiled, briefly explaining him a couple more details about the program. It sounded like a pretty interesting opportunity, and even if Alex hadn't wanted to take a few steps back he would have insisted that she go. "So we're cool then?" he asked timidly as she finished clapping loudly about some odd pun he'd just told. People at other tables stared at them, and for the first time Alex noticed that it was a fairly annoying trait.

Erin nodded. "Absolutely. I'll go to Rome. You go the Hamptons and whatever happens after that, happens."

Alex nodded, confirming his agreement. That had been easier than he'd thought.

* * *

By the time Alex had wondered home from work, he was exhausted, frustrated, and unjustifiably angry. He didn't know why it had been such a long day. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened, but for some reason it all just seemed so difficult. Work was what Alex was supposed to be good at, so why did it all of a sudden feel like… well like _work_? 

He sighed as his apartment door slid closed behind him. His apartment was an absolute mess. This was very out of character for him. Alex was normally quite the little neat freak. He went over to his poker table and started clearing off some of the junk. He crumpled up three bags of Doritos, shoved a discarded apple core into one of the bags, hesitantly sniffed a pair of dirty boxers, and eventually revealed a stack of Maxim magazines. Wait a second. This wasn't his mess.

"Hal?" he grunted, thinking out loud.

"Yeah?" he heard a voice reply from the other side of the sofa.

Alex scowled and quickly crossed his apartment. There was Hal, laying slumped lazily on Alex's sofa and playing Guitar Hero in the dark with the TV on mute. Alex threw all Hal's garbage onto his lap and glared while Hal paused the game.

"Dude you just totally messed me up," Hal groaned, glaring right back at Alex.

"Good," Alex confirmed. "It's what you get for lurking in my apartment like some creepy incestuous sodomist."

"Being alone in the dark in another guy's apartment, who just happens to be your cousin, is not creepy," Hal replied, shuffling under the junk until his guitar was free, and resumed his game.

Alex watched idly as Hal expertly worked his way through the song, with only the clicks of the plastic guitar's buttons to guide his song. "Hal, you know there's something wrong with your life when you can play Guitar Hero on expert with the sound off."

Hal shrugged, unable to bring himself out of the game long enough to care what Alex had to say. "No, you know there's something wrong with your life when you get fired from your job."

Alex scowled. No. He couldn't have… "You got fired?" he asked blankly.

Hal shook his head slowly. "Nope."

Alex took a deep breath of relief. Thank god. The last thing he needed right now would be the responsibility to take care of an unemployed Hal. He had enough of his own shit to worry about.

"I quit before they could fire me."

Alex's jaw dropped.

Hal merely continued to fiddle with the plastic guitar on mute. "You know you should really consider upgrading," Hal said, either pointedly ignoring Alex's glowering stare, or too consumed in the game to notice. "Big Band is so much better."

Not for the first time in his life, Alex considered punching his cousin. Amazingly, he managed to restrain himself. Or at least he managed to restrain his physical anger. "Why the fuck did you quit your job!" he bellowed at Hal.

Amazingly, Hal managed not to wince. In fact, he just continued to play on. Alex couldn't even tell what song he was playing. What kind of freak plays Guitar Hero on mute? In the back of his mind, he meekly noted that perhaps Hal too was a bit upset about this new development.

Eventually, Hal finished whatever song he'd been playing and turned to face his purple-faced cousin. "I'm thinking about starting a band."

When Alex was sixteen he'd started seeing a therapist. Anna had been quite worried for some time about her stepson's awkward tendencies and lovingly coerced him into attending therapy through means of bribery and guilt. After about two sessions, the idiotic therapist approached Anna with his observations. Apparently, according to Dr. Harebrained, Alex Crink suffered from a stunted social development and latent anger.

Anna was very worried. Here she'd ruined one kid's life and had a toddler crawling around just waiting to be socially stunted as well. So Anna did what any paranoid parent would do; she read more parenting books than a single soul should ever read. In the end, she found almost no comfort in the printings before her. In fact, she found that most of these people had absolutely no clue how to raise a child. Plus, it seemed like each book she read seemed to contradict the last. Lipchitz told her not to mollycoddle her kids, Wieners told her not to cut the apron strings too soon.

In the end, Anna found an unyielding urge to burn those damn books as soon as she possibly could.

And so Anna did probably the best thing she could have ever done for her stepson: She talked to him. It seemed so simple and obvious that Anna was convinced it would never work, but work it had. Alex took a lot out of those after school chats, helping cool his fears about college, his future, and even many of his social problems. But, by complete coincidence, she also managed to teach him some of her favorite stress relievers.

Alex bit his bottom lip, counted down from 26, and reverted to back to his old habit of rubbing his temples and clenching his jaw. He opened his mouth to reply, found that it was about to come out as angrier than normal, then stopped, shut his mouth, and counted down from 26 once again.

"You--" he stopped again. Nope. Still not ready. It was possible he needed to pick a bigger number.

"Save me the speech, Alex," Hal groaned; not upset, not even slightly miffed. "I've hated being a lawyer from the day I passed the bar. I hate every fucking thing about that damn job, but I grinned and bore it for as long as I possibly could. And when I couldn't take it for one more day without shooting myself in the head, I told my boss to fuck off and then I quit."

Alex regarded him suspiciously. He seemed far too accepting for this to be a recent development. "And when exactly did this happen?" he asked slowly, not exactly sure that he wanted to hear the answer.

Hal hesitated, not exactly sure he wanted _to_ answer. "Um? Two days ago?"

"Holy shit," Alex blurted before he could restrain himself and settle into reassuring. "What the fuck have you been doing for the last two days?"

Hal shrugged. "Getting drunk mostly." Hal smiled. "Oh, and I got a tattoo."

Alex shook his head, and motioned idly for Hal to show him. Hal stood up with a wince and began to unbutton his jeans. Suddenly, Alex found he didn't want to see the tattoo so much. He quickly pushed Hal back onto the sofa. "I don't want to see your pale, skinny ass," Alex growled.

Hal grinned wickedly. "I never said it was on my ass."

* * *

Kill the Moonlight, Stab the Sun 

Monday, June 28

Mood: Beachy (?)

Music: Why Can't We Be Friends?

I absolutely love Maggie Intel. Or should I say Maggie Holden? How could I possibly forget? Her wedding was one of the more memorable ones I've attended.

As I was saying I love Maggs. And, as shocking as this may sound, I love her husband. Peter is hilarious. He's like this quirky little string bean. Not physically weak, but once you get to know him his personality seems to stretch him out. He's such a softy, and an absolutely adorable father, and I'm almost positive that I could beat him up.

Kim, Maggie's baby sister, on the other hand, I would like to kill. I would honestly strangle her with my bare hands. I swear to god, she better watch her back while she sleeps.

And we're off to the Hamptons alongside one of Pete's good friends, Hal. Oh, Hal! How do you describe Hal? I suppose that's easy enough. To describe Hal all I really have to say is that he's entertainment personified with a ton of personality. A good personality. A funny, although slightly perverse personality.

The beach house is killer. It's two stories and absolutely huge. There's one double room that was originally meant to be shared between Kim and I, but Hal is my saving grace and offered to take the other bed for me and give Kim his room and I couldn't be more grateful. I'd rather not get arraigned for murder. Apparently when you're in prison you have to do the same things everyday. Bor-ing!

So I'll be rooming with Hal. Don't worry. He promised not to try and sleep with me. At this point, I haven't decided if I'd mind. My mind's still up in the air about whether or not to pursue Hal. I get the feeling I wouldn't have to worry about him getting too committed…

And tomorrow we hit the beach. Maggs is already ferociously jealous that I'm already tan, but I tried to explain that in Boca the sun is vicious.

Question. Does it classify as a vacation when you spend your entire life traveling? Because it sure does feel like vacation.

Coming to a town near you,

Andy Holly

* * *

Under the circumstances, Alex felt that he had every right to panic. 

What was _she _doing here? _She _wasn't supposed to be here. This was the absolute last thing he needed in his life at this moment.

He'd made a vow. A vow to move on and grow up. He'd made a vow to just get over it all already. It was long past time he did so.

And yet, _she _still existed. Didn't _she_ know she was supposed to disappear into thin air? That's how it's supposed to work. He made a vow! It would be so much easier to forget her if she wasn't sitting right there in font of him. Even a blind man couldn't ignore her at such close proximity.

"Oh, don't just sit there looking as if you've just seen a ghost," she said with a conceited, sickening smile. "Admit you're happy to see me, Alex." Had she always smiled like that? Did it always look so feeble, and pathetic, and fake? How could he have ever fallen into a smile as synthetic as that? Her lips—Alex was pretty sure they were made of plastic. It seemed oddly probably that they were. She looked as if she should be featured on True Life: Plastic Surgery Gone Wrong.

"No actually, Kim," Alex replied, scooting farther away from her as she tried to wrap her arms around his neck, "you are the absolute last person I wanted to see."

Kim's supposedly sexy smile slipped away and was quickly replaced with an aggravated scowl; eyebrows lowered, lips pierced and protruding into the slightest pout, chin creased, and her eyes narrowed. Alex was well aware what this face meant. He'd only had to face it everyday for the last three years every time something wasn't going according to her perfect plan. Every time Alex refused to oblige her whims, every time he attempted to break up with her, there was that damn scowl warning him that he'd live to regret it.

"God Alex," she sneered, tossing her perfect curtain on blond hair over her shoulder and dropping her left shoulder so that the strap on her designer top slid off her shoulder and drew attention to her pristine bare skin. "Do you always have to be such a jerk?"

Alex looked back at her with his own eyebrows lowered and the same look he wore every time he found himself disbelieving the fact that she still wanted to play her childish games. "I'm not a jerk," was all he managed to say.

Kim pouted, laying on all her tricks of seduction. "Then why are you always so mean to me?" she asked sweetly, innocently. Kim was a lot of things—demented, cruel, conceited—, but she wasn't stupid. She knew what Alex wanted. He wanted to protect someone. Just like every person in the world, he wanted to feel as if he could help her, as if he could take her in his arms and make everything feel better. She pouted with precision, hoping to ignite his indefinite urge.

Alex sighed and stood from the sofa. Kim scowled in slight disbelief. That had always worked before. That was the part where he'd always put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her softly, hoping to make her feel better. Why hadn't it worked this time?

"I can't play these games anymore, Kim," he said moving over to his wet bar and pouring himself a potent drink.

"Why?" she asked bluntly and with a note of derision. If you asked Kim there was absolutely nothing wrong with games. In fact they were the center of her universe. They were the glue that made her entire life possible. What was the point of being around people if not to manipulate them to your liking?

Alex threw back his shot and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Unknowingly, his jaw was clenched and his frustrations were slowly bubbling to the top.

Wouldn't it just be so much easier if they just ceased to exist? It should be some sort of law: People must move at least three states away after a break up. Or possibly more, depending on the length of the relationship and the brutality of the breakup. Life would be so much easier for him if Kim merely ceased to exist.

The irony of it all was that Kim was hardly around back when he'd wanted her. There'd always been another guy, and another excuse to get away from him. And now he couldn't get her to leave him the fuck alone.

But it was his own fault. He never should have opened the door.

He could forgive his doorman for always allowing Hal, and Peter, and Tanner, and Daniel, and even Maggie on occasion, into his apartment unannounced. But Kim! Sure once upon a time, Kim's visitation would not have warranted so much trouble and might have, ever so slightly, been a welcomed thought, but that wasn't the case any more.

Alex had moved on, moved up, and was quite prepared to forget she ever existed. He'd made a vow!

"Alex," she whined, suddenly needy for him. She slowly got off the sofa and came up behind him to wrap her arms around him with practiced prowess. "Can't you just forgive me?"

He slowly turned around and looked down at her. Oh god was she beautiful! Hal wasn't lying when he claimed that she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in real life. It was true. She really was.

But she didn't have dusty freckles speckled across her cheeks. And her eyes weren't debating whether to be green or brown. They were blue. Why wasn't that as exciting to him as it was before? And her shirt was practically falling off her. She acted as though clothing was merely an obstacle between her and getting naked as quickly as possible. Why didn't she have fun with it? Possibly show a bit of personality, if she had any, through her clothing? And the hair. There was something wrong with it. It was blond. Now that Alex begrudgingly thought about it, maybe he really was more of a brunette kind of guy. Blond hair just didn't feel quite right to him.

"C'mon Alex," she prodded, thinking she had him back, using her protruding lips to scatter soft kisses across his cheek starting from his ear. But before she could finish with his lips, her attempt was thwarted and she felt her face being gently pushed away.

"I don't want to, Kim," he replied through laborious breaths. Kim was still beautiful, Kim still had an effect on him, but Alex was quite determined to ignore it. Physical attraction just wasn't going to be enough for him anymore. "I can't do this anymore."

There it was, the scowl made its appearance yet again. Why couldn't she just grow up already? "You know you want me," she growled with obstinate determination.

"No." Alex shrugged and smiled slightly. Oh how wrong she was. "No, Kim, I _really_ don't."

She stomped her foot angrily on his hardwood floor as he pulled out of her grasp, and threw a tiny, obnoxious temper tantrum.

Alex's smile broadened. Was it wrong for him to enjoy this? She'd put him through hundreds of these agonizing fights, and now he felt suddenly immune to her antics. He wasn't drawn into her little narcissistic Kim-fest, or her conceited reassurances about her plethora of insecurities. It just didn't affect him anymore. "In fact, Kimmy-Dear, I couldn't give a shit about you."

So maybe he was pouring salt in the wound for his own sick satisfaction, but Alex celebrated his liberation from the witch that ruled his life for the past three years. He'd done it. He was finally free.

Kim grabbed a glass off his bar, the same one he'd just used, and threw it angrily onto the ground. "You'll _so_ regret this Alex Crink!" she declared with resolution. She stormed to the door, leaving in a whirlwind of anger just like she did every time he broke things off with her.

She stopped at the door, turning in a huff to solidify her dramatic exit. "And you _will _take me back."

"No, no I won't," he vowed with amusement, talking to a girl that was no longer there.

* * *

Alex heaved a great sigh of relief at the sight of his precious car. It'd been far too long since he'd taken his Thunderbird for a spin, and to be honest he missed the sanctuary it provided. 

For someone who seemed to relish in his ability to stand still, he sure did take great pleasure in escaping his life. Or maybe that was just lately?

It was hard to comprehend the insignificant change that had taken place in Alex, but anyone that knew him, could tell that something was different since his return from Alabama. He didn't know why, and his inability to exercise a single moment's thought on the predicament, did nothing to solve the mystery.

But the answer was more superficial than he'd like to admit. It would hardly take any thought at all to solve it. In fact, the only reason Alex had yet to reach any kind of conclusion on the matter was his stubborn obtuseness. He could avoid the truth as long as he damn well pleased, thank you very much. If he didn't want to reach a conclusion, then remain floundering in the dark he would.

The truth was: He wouldn't allow himself to think about her. "Her" wasn't Kim, and sadly enough it wasn't Erin either. It was…

Oh just forget it. It was useless. He just couldn't bring himself to say it. He couldn't even bring himself to think it. It just lay there in the back of his mind, haunting his every thought.

He couldn't decide if this was a blessing or a problem.

In fact, it was an irrepressible urge that his subconscious had. He couldn't have her. What was the point in thinking about her? He couldn't love her. What was the point in thinking about her? He couldn't even see her any more, (although if he were being honest he easily could have tracked her down through her tendency to contact his best friend, but when are conciouses ever honest?) couldn't touch her, be with her. What was the point in thinking about her?

And so she remained, just beneath the surface, refusing to go away just like the obstinate creature that she was.

He hopped into his convertible, smiled at the garage attendant that tossed him the keys, and was cruising out of there in a matter of seconds.

Alex relished in his time alone. Hal had thankfully ridden off with Peter and Maggie the day before, while he had stayed to settle a couple more things and make sure Eadie would be able to handle affairs while he was gone.

Unfortunately, Kim would be a part of this little escapade. This put Alex in absolutely no hurry to get to the beach. So he just kind of drove, barely inching over the speed limit, with the wind rushing through his hair and his cell phone turned off in his pocket. It was a chance to get away from it all. Although, with a scowl, he realized that maybe things were his refuge all along? Maybe the distractions were what kept him going?

Oh. He wished he could just stop thinking about it. Stop think about it all. Stop thinking about Kim suckering him into another bad situation. Stop thinking about the guilt that was reeling in the pit of his stomach whenever he thought about poor Erin. But most of all, was it too much too ask to stop thinking about Andy Holly?

For god's sake he'd known her for a week, most of which was spent in high tension and minor conflict. They'd barely managed to get along. What the hell was wrong with him?!

But it didn't matter. He was almost there and it felt as though with every mile he drove, Andy Holly was being left further and further behind him. He pulled into the driveway of the two story beach mansion and forced himself to smile. He couldn't get out of that car and still be thinking about her. It was time to leave her behind.

So he made yet another vow. He would forget about her. He would forget she ever existed just like he'd forgotten that he'd ever been in love with Kim. He could leave her in the car and never let her memory get out again.

He needed to move on.

He stepped out of his car, took a deep breath, threw his backpack over his shoulder and grabbed his suitcase. There. It was done. She was forgotten.

"Oh Alex! You made it," Maggie gushed, kissing him platonically on the cheek and practically shoving them into the house. "It's beautiful isn't it?" she said with a happy blush. Alex was glad she seemed so happy. Perhaps his mistake had finally been forgotten? Perhaps he really wasn't the world's biggest jackass?

"It's nice," he said politely, hardly bothering to look around. In fact, he couldn't have cared less what the house looked like. It was someplace new, which, for the first time, was relieving rather than disturbing.

"So?" Maggie seemed far too excited to see Alex. Normally she hardly cared. He eyed her suspiciously, wondering if she'd forgotten to take her medication. "Do you want to meet everyone first, or would you rather put your stuff in your room?"

Ah. So that was it. He finally made the connection between himself and Maggie's twitchy greeting. He'd completely forgotten about the mysterious friend. Well there was no point in avoiding it forever. He shrugged, smiled slightly, and decided to just get it over with.

Maggie smiled in ecstasy and grabbed him by the shirt to lead him into the living room where everyone else had gathered. "Everyone!" she announced as they entered the room. "Alex is here!"

Peter groaned, Hal didn't move, Kim rushed to his side, and the girl in the corner smiled in recognition.

What? It couldn't be…

"Al," Maggie said pointing to their group's cute brunette guest. "Did you ever meet my roommate from Auburn? Madeline Cole?"

Madeline? What? That didn't make any sense. He could have sworn it was…

"Madeline" stood from her seat and walked over to Alex with a hand extended hand and that familiar victorious smile. As she approached, his fears, or possibly hopes, were confirmed. It was her alright.

He numbly returned her handshake, and tried to keep his jaw from dropping open in shock.

"You can call me Maddie," she said, squeezing his hand comfortably. How could she be so calm about this? "And you must be Alex Crink," she added with a hasty wink from one of her green (or were they brown?) eyes.

* * *

_Ta-da!_


End file.
